Demons in the Shadows
by SilverDragon470
Summary: Hikage Village, the village hidden in the shadows, is the origin of all demons including the tailed demons. But what the village is most famous for is the demon jounin created by Orochimaru, Bakemono. What happens when he and his genin come to Konoha?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, just to warn you all this story is not a songfic although it does use songs in it due to the characters' backgrounds/talents. However, none of the songs are mine because, let's face it, I'm just not that talented. I used them because sometime songs can really set the mood to a story. This chapter does not have any emotinally integral ones but it does give you a little taste of what's to come in terms of songs. I hope you like it!!!

* * *

"Pork Ramen please!" Naruto raised his chopsticks in anticipation and Ayame smiled at him. 

"Coming right up!" Teuchi announced as he dunked the noodles and Naruto's feet unconsciously began to fidget as the smell of the broth entered his nose.

"This place looks good," an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind him. Naruto turned to the side as three new teenagers sat themselves next to him. He raised his eyebrows approvingly at the two girls in the group.

The one closest to him had shiny black hair which swept right above her elbows. Her straight bangs fell heavily over her rich amethyst eyes and framed her pretty face quite well. She glanced around the restaurant with an open and honest curiousity. Her gaze landed on Naruto who raised his chopsticks in greeting.

"If you're looking for good food, you definitely came to the best place in all of Konoha," he smiled assuredly.

"So, you're from around here?" She asked and he pointed to his forehead protector.

"Yup, I'm one of Konoha's best ninjas!" He smiled.

"We're ninjas from Hikage Village," she pointed to her own protector wrapped around her waist.

"Hikage Village," Naruto tapped his lips with his chopsticks. "I've never heard of it."

"It's a really small village in the Country of Darkness," she shrugged. "I'm Rin Tomoe by the way."

"Naruto Uzumaki," he smiled back and leaned over to glance at her two friends. "And they are?"

"I'm Rei Mizuno," the second girl smiled politely and Naruto waved giddily. She was even prettier than Rin. Her long silver hair came all the way down to her knees and her light blue eyes shone brightly against her fair skin. She extended her milky hand towards him and Naruto took it carefully, she was so tall and elegant he was afraid of marring her somehow. But she squeezed his hand with a firm reassurance of her own stability and his own worthiness.

"Toya Gyouan," the boy raised his chopsticks to Naruto. He, just like his teammates, was very good looking. He had black hair which swept over his forehead protector and stuck out at all sides and flipped out slightly at his ears. However, his messy hair didn't quite suit his serious face. His bright green eyes didn't match his expression either but he kept them relaxed and introverted. But what really caught Naruto's attention was the katana and wakizashi at his waist. The sheaths were simple shiny black but the hilts of the weapons had matching inlaid designs of stars and moons. Also hanging from the sheaths were four netsukes: a hanya mask, a ryusa netsuke with sakura flowers, a dragon, and a dog.

"Any recommendations?" Rin asked and Naruto looked away from the weapons quickly.

"Huh?" He asked slightly confused.

"The ramen, what's good?" She clarified.

"Oh! Well my favorite is Pork, but everything is really good!" Naruto assured.

"I knew this place was going to be good!" Rin was triumphant.

"It was just the first place you saw when your stomach started growling," Toya said dryly.

"Whatever, it was intuition," she defended and he rolled his eyes.

"Do you know what you would like yet?" Ayame asked the three Hikage ninja.

"I think we'll all try the pork ramen," Rei smiled politely.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi called as he dunked three more sets of noodles in.

"So Naruto, you're a Konoha ninja eh?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Lived here my whole life," he nodded.

"Then you must know what there is to do around here for fun," she smiled.

"Definitely! I'll show you all the cool places!" He assured.

* * *

"Hey, hey. I'm not late for the party, am I?" Kakashi asked when he popped his head into Tsunade's office. "I was on my way here when I saw a group of school children who had lost their chaperone. Naturally I stayed to reunite them with their pretty teacher. Needless to say, she was very happy and wanted to reward me-" 

"I wouldn't call this a party, Kakashi," Tsunade corrected as he joined the other jounin in the office. Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Shizune, and Anko were already there.

"Alright, alright. I can see it's a little more serious than that if all the remaining jounin in Konoha are here." He looked around the office.

"It's fairly serious," Tsunade nodded. "However, if you insist on calling it a party, we are still expecting a few more important guests.

* * *

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino waved down the girl. Sakura smiled back in greeting and walked up to her along with Shikamaru and Temari. 

"Hey Ino," Sakura and looked over at Temari and Shikamaru. "Temari, what brings you back to Konoha?"

"Business as usual," she shrugged. "I heard you just came back from a mission."

"Yeah, but nothing exciting." Sakura dismissed but then looked devilishly at Ino. "Athough I hoped in the time I was gone you mastered that medical jutsu you were working on Ino."

"I'm getting close!" Ino's face began to turn red.

"Close, eh? Well I guess you'll just never catch up to me now. Not that I expected you to."

"What did you say?!" Ino demanded and Shikamaru sighed.

"Troublesome women," he muttered.

"We're not all like that," Temari argued.

"I haven't seen proof of that," he muttered again but his snide comments were cut off when Naruto ran straight into him.

"Sorry!" He yelled before running off.

"Naruto? Where are you off to?" Sakura called after him.

"I'm meeting some new friends, and I'm late!" He responded and continued to run. "We're going to the karaoke bar! You should come!"

"New friends?" Sakura wondered.

"I love karaoke!" Ino clasped her hands. "We should go!"  
"I'm up for it," Sakura agreed and the two looked at Shikamaru and Temari.

"I don't sing or dance," Shikamaru said flatly.

"I didn't expect you to come," Ino dismissed and turned towards Temari. "What about you?"

"I think I'll take a rain check," Temari shook her head. "I still have some work to do."

"Your loss," Ino said and started to head in the direction of the karaoke bar.

"Come by if you finish with your work early!" Sakura said before heading off with Ino.

* * *

"And then Naruto farted right in Kiba's face," Ino said sticking out her tongue. 

"That's the most unique strategy I've ever heard of," Rin laughed. "You get points for creativity if nothing else."

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Naruto defended. "Besides why don't you tell any stories of how I saved the day with some cool moves and amazing jutsu?!"

"Because those stories don't exist," Sakura said flatly and Naruto's face fell.

"Oh yeah? What about the time I defeated Neji or Gaara?" He asked.

"You mean that time you summoned that huge frog to do all the fighting for you?" Sakura asked and his shoulders slouched.

"He didn't do all the work," Naruto muttered.

"Hey, Sakura," Ino whispered. "Don't you think Toya's really cute?"

"Totally cute!" Sakura agreed.

"Yeah, but you're probably not his type," Ino shrugged. "He'd probably like a girl with a normal, petite forehead."

"What was that, pig?" Sakura glared.

"I love you!" The slightly drunk singer yelled loudly into the microphone.

"Could he be anymore tone deaf?" Toya winced.

"Yeah, if you have so much to say why don't you go up there and show us how it's done?" Rin asked.

"I only said one thing!" He protested.

"Oh come on, go up there and sing Toya!" Rei agreed and he shook his head.

"No freaking way," he crossed his arms.

"Either you go up there and sing or I'll start telling some of your more famous fight stories," Rin said bluntly and he stood up.

"I hate you," he said before walking towards the stage.

"You don't mean that," Rin shook her head.

"I hope your first born child dies!" He called back as he grabbed the microphone. Turning towards the DJ he signaled for his attention. The DJ put on the next song and Toya licked his lips and began to sing. His voice was smooth like velvet and his normal serious and reposed demeanor melted away into charming and passionate aura which captivated every female in the entire bar.

_We got the afternoon_

_You got this room for two_

_One thing I've left to do_

_Discover me discovering you_

_One mile to every inch_

_Your skin like porcelain_

_One pair of candy lips_

_And your bubble gum tongue_

_And if you want love_

_We'll make it_

_Swimming a deep sea_

_Of blankets_

_Take all your big plans_

_And break em'_

_This is bound to be wild_

_Your body is wonderland_

_Your body is wonder_

_I'll lose my head_

_Your body is wonderland_

_Something bout' the way your hair falls in your face_

_I love the shape you take while crawling towards the pillowcase_

_You tell me where to go, though I might leave to find it_

_I'll never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it_

_Want love? _

_We'll make it_

_Swimming a deep sea_

_Of blankets_

"He is so hot!" Ino squealed and Sakura nodded her head vehemently.

"He's not that great," Naruto muttered. But before he could say one more word Toya had pulled him up on stage. "What? What are you doing?!"  
"If I have to do this, so you you," Toya insisted and shoved a mic in Naruto's hand. "Just follow the words on the screen!"

Naruto looked nervously into the screen and began to sing the lines.

_Your body is wonderland_

_Your body is wonder I'll lose my head_

_Your body is wonderland_

"Wow, he's really bad," Ino winced at Naruto's voice.

"Oh come on, at least he's trying," Rin defended and stood up clapping. "Yeah Naruto!"

"You're awesome Naruto!" Rei joined in and his face lit up at their cheers. Toya came up beside him and began to sing along with him, helping him find the right notes.

_I'm never speaking up again_

_I'll lose my head_

_Damn baby_

_You frustrate me_

_I know you're mine, all mine, all mine_

_But you look so good it hurts sometimes_

"Who knew being a ninja involved this much paperwork," Shikamaru muttered as he and Temari walked along the streets of Konoha.

"Tell me about it," Temari agreed. "If this is what it's like to be a jounin, I'd rather go back to being a chuunin."

"Hmm, I'd prefer being a genin. Although I'd still have to go on missions," Shikamaru thought and Temari rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, what kind of ninja are you?" She asked and he shrugged but stopped suddenly with his eyes open. Temari looked back at him in confusion. "What? What is it?"

"Is that, Naruto?" Shikamaru pointed to the window of the Karaoke bar. Sure enough, Naruto was singing his heart out with another boy on stage. "I need a picture of this."

"What the hell are those ninja doing here?" Temari's eyes glowed with anger as she saw the new kids with Naruto.

* * *

Tsunade stared off into space as she blew the bangs out of her face, "If they were going to be this late I would have schedualed the meeting for later in the day." 

As soon as the words left her mouth the door cracked open. The other bored jounin in the room immediately straightened as three new ninja entered the room. An older man in his fifties led the group. He was clad in a Kage's garb with the long white robe and pointed hat with the kanji for Darkness on the front. Behind him were two younger ninjas in their late twenties or early thirties.

"Hey, those two were definitely worth the wait," Anko whispered to Kurenai who nodded approvingly at the two younger ninjas. The one to the left of the Kage had silver hair with boyish bangs which accented his friendly and handsome face. His warm brown eyes peeked out from the bangs and looked around the room anxiously. Next to him was a far more serious looking ninja but no less handsome. He had shorter spiky black hair which fell around his head haphazardly and midnight blue eyes which swept over the room indifferently. His harder features contrasted sharply against the other ninja's softer, more boyish face. Although the lighter haired ninja was nowhere near short, this one towered over him with his height. While the silver haired ninja stood near the Kage the darker one leaned against the wall near the door.

"They're not that great," Asuma frowned and Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Ankokukage," Tsunade stood up and held her hand out. "It's good to finally meet you."

"Likewise, Tsunade." He answered ignoring her hand. Tsunade frowned and let her arm drop to her side. "You have a quaint little village here. I was afraid it would have suffered more serious damage after the death of the third."

"Thanks," she said flatly as her hands formed fists at her side.

"It's nice to see a female ninja take such responsibility," he added and her fists tightened. "Well, I can see you're very busy and I'll get right to the point. I come here with the proposal of a treaty."

"Treaty?" Tsunade asked. "Why?"

"Lately, Akatsuki has been seen in the Country of Darkness. I know you have had trouble with them as well. So I feel it's in the best interests of your Village to consider a truce with Hikage village." He explained.

"Akatsuki?" Kakashi spoke up. "Why would they be in the Country of Darkness?"

"Listen, I didn't come here for a question and answer session," the Ankokukage glared at Kakashi. Looking back at Tsunade he nodded. "I need to get back to Hikage as soon as possible due to urgent matters. I hope you realize the benefits this treaty can have for your village."

"We can stay and answer any questions," the silver haired ninja offered.

"Do as you wish," the Ankokukage said and left as rudely as he came. The ninja looked after him in surprise and looked back at Tsunade apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that, I'm sure he didn't mean-"

"It's fine," Tsunade eased into her chair letting her anger dissolve into his well meaning warm brown eyes. "I understand what it's like to have something like Akatsuki hanging over you. He must be under a lot of stress-"

"No," the darker-haired ninja interrupted. "He's just a jerk."

* * *

"Encore!" Rin yelled clapping enthusiastically as Naruto beamed on stage. Toya clapped him on the back. 

"You didn't do too badly," he congratulated.

"Hey, you were pretty good yourself Toya," Naruto smiled back.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled as he and Temari pushed through the crowd which had gathered around the karaoke stage. He reached up and pulled the blond ninja off stage.

"Hey, hey! What's the big idea?!" Naruto demanded as Sakura and Ino came up behind Shikamaru and Temari.

"Shikamaru, what's going on?" Ino asked. Rin and Rei came up shortly and Toya hopped off of stage.

"What are they doing here?" Temari demanded as she pointed at the Hikage ninja.

"What are you talking about? They're our friends," Naruto shrugged.

"No Hikage ninja is a friend," Temari scowled and Rin glanced at her forehead protector with the Sand insignia on it.

"Listen, we're not here for any trouble," Rin held her hands up in a gesture of good will.

"Yeah, whatever," Temari snapped. "We all need to get out of here, now."

"Come on," Shikamaru nodded and followed Temari out. Ino and Sakura looked back at the Hikage ninja before following their friends out leaving Naruto alone with them. He turned to face them and Rei waved her hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "We'll see you later Naruto."

"Are you sure?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, we have to work on your singing," Rin assured.

"Yeah," Naruto forced a weak smile before heading out. He met up with the others outside and faced Temari angrily. "What the hell was that?"

"Those were Hikage ninja," Temari said.

"Yeah, I know. And they were my friends," Naruto's fists tightened.

"Well they're no friends of mine!" Temari shouted angrily.

"And why is that?" He asked.

"Because they're ruthless and sadistic ninja who do anything to win!"

"Temari," Sakura spoke up. "They didn't seem anything like that. How can you be so sure that they're like that? Have you met them before?"

"ALL Hikage ninja are ruthless!" She assured.

"How can you be so sure?" Naruto demanded.

"Because the Sand Village has experienced their ruthless tactics before. The feudal lord of the Country of Darkness had an economic dispute with the feudal lord of the Country of Wind. So the Sand Village and Hikage Village went to war. During that war Hikage Village used horrifying jutsus and forbidden techniques. They were completely brutal. But they weren't strong enough to defeat us Sand Ninja. After losing the war, their forces were horribly weak and they've been struggling ever since to survive. They took whatever mission was offered, no matter how seedy or immoral it was. They were even associated with Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes," Temari nodded. "It's said before he defected from Konoha he performed secret experiments to create stronger ninjas for Hikage village. They say one of their strongest ninjas, Bakemono, was one of his creations."

"Bakemono? Monster?" Sakura questioned.

"They say his jutsus are the most horrifying ever seen. He's even worse than the demons which inhabit Hikage forest."

"Demons?" Ino blanched. "There are demons?"

"Surrounding Hikage Village is a forest inhabited by demons on one side and on the other are rough mountains. It's their greatest defense. However, the war was fought in the Country of Wind. They were at the disadvantage because of the unfamiliar terrain of the desert. But that doesn't mean we didn't suffer horrendous losses at their hands!"

"But that war happened years ago," Shikamaru argued. "The ninja we just saw weren't even born yet."

"That doesn't mean that they don't know those forbidden jutsus or take on sleazy missions. Are you really willing to trust ninja who are associated with Orochimaru?"

"They can't be," Naruto muttered as the former Konoha jounin's maniacal smile flashed through his head. His fists tightened. "No, they can't be."

* * *

"Please, Hokage-sama," the lighter-haired ninja. "Allow us to answer any questions you may have." 

"Are you single and if so what's your names?" Anko piped up and Tsunade glared.

"I believe I'll be asking the questions, Anko," she glared. "But now that you mention it, I haven't caught either of your names."

"Excuse me for not introducing myself, Hokage-sama," he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm a Hikage jounin and my name is Kenji Chiba."

"Ryo Yue, Hikage jounin," the darker haired ninja added.

"Cute names," Anko smiled devilishly.

"Well Yue, Chiba," Tsunade looked at them and clasped her hands under her chin leaning back in her chair. "I've never been one for delicacy. So my questions will be blunt. Is Hikage village associated with Orochimaru?"

"No," Yue said and stopped. Chiba looked back at him at annoyance.

"Orochimaru was a mistake. Everyone in Hikage knows this. And as you know he didn't exactly leave our village on friendly terms. He's as much an enemy of ours as he is of yours," Chiba elaborated.

"That'll do," Tsunade held up her hand. "My second question is, why Konoha? Why not another village?"

"Well, as you know we're not exactly on the best terms with the Village of Sand. And we seem to have the same problem with Akatsuki you do," Chiba said.

"What do you mean by that?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"We too, have a tailed demon. This is why we believe Akatsuki is in the Country of Darkness." Chiba informed.

"One of the tailed demons is in Hikage forest?" Tsunade's eyes widened and Chiba shook his head.

"Not anymore, it was sealed in one of our genin," Chiba explained.

"Genin? I thought you didn't have any genin."

"We don't have a lot, only three. Just like how we only have three jounin. We have twenty-three chuunin but that's it. Our forces are weak. Which is why we need your help protecting the Houkou and its carrier," Chiba held his hands out.

"Three jounin?" Kakashi spoke up. "There are two of you here, who's the other?"

"Surely you don't mean Bakemono is a jounin in your village?" Tsunade stood up with her hands planted firmly on her desk. "I thought that was just a rumor!"

"Why wouldn't I be a jounin?" A voice sounded from behind Tsunade. She jumped at the sight of the masked being which had appeared out of nowhere next to her. He was clad head to toe in black with heavy black boots and bandages wrapped around his forearms and calves. Despite his indistinct attire there was one very noticeable thing about him. He wore a white hanya mask with red markings, fangs, and slanted black eyes. Etched on the forehead was the Hikage insignia. It completely covered his face and the fabric of his shirt extended up over his neck and head. All together not one inch of his body was exposed. He leaned casually against the window with his elbows propped up on the sill and his legs crossed at the ankles. Despite his casual stance and his short height, he was by far the most intimidating presence in the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Tsunade demanded from the floor as the other Konoha jounin fell into defensive stances.

"That's the monster of the Hikage Village, Bakemono!" Asuma nearly dropped the cigarette out of his mouth.

"You weren't scared of me, were you?" Bakemono asked as Shizune helped Tsunade up.

"Of course not!" She glared at him. "I just have trouble trusting ninjas who refuse to show their face."

"Oh yeah?" He asked disappearing in a cloud of smoke. He popped up next to Kakashi and jutted a thumb at the other jounin. "What about him?"

* * *

Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha as he contemplated the Hikage ninja from the previous night. "They couldn't be associated with Orochimaru. They just couldn't be." 

"Hey, Naruto!" A voice called and Naruto looked up.

"Iruka-sensei?" He blinked up at his former teacher.

"What's wrong? You look a little distracted."

"Iruka-sensei, what do you know about Hikage Village?"

"Hikage? How do you know about the treaty?"

"Huh? What treaty?" Naruto's brow wrinkled and Iruka flinched. "Iruka-sensei! What treaty?!"

"Ugh, now I have to tell you," he sighed. "Hikage Village is currently approaching Konoha about entering a treaty. But you're not supposed to know about it, so don't tell anyone I told you!"

"Oh, so that's why the Hikage ninja were here," Naruto realized. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, is it true they were associated with Orochimaru?"

"That was a long time ago Naruto, before we even knew his real intentions. Hikage Village has since been cleared of all association with him."

"I knew it! Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled before running off.

"Hey, wait!" Iruka yelled after him. "Why are you asking about Hikage village?!"

* * *

"Good morning Sakura," Kakashi waved absently at the chuunin as she passed him on the street. 

"Kakashi-sensei, good morning," Sakura greeted as she walked over to the bench he was seated at. "What are doing up so-oh."

She frowned at the book in his hands, _Of course. He's reading that stupid book again. But on second thought._

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," she called his attention from Makeout Tactics. "Why are there Hikage ninja in the village?"

"So you've seen some of them, eh? Konoha is having some negotiations with Hikage right now. There are three jounin and three genin from the village here," he explained.

"Jounin too?" Sakura thought aloud. "What are the jounin like?"

"They're all fairly famous in their own right." Kakashi closed his book and tucked it away. "There's Kenji Chiba from the Chiba clan, one of the three great clans of Hikage. He is in fact destined to become the next Ankokukage. Then there is Ryo Yue who is the last member of the founding clan of the Country of Darkness and is also a member of one of the great clans of Hikage. However, I find the last jounin, Bakemono to be the most interesting."

"Bakemono? The one Orochimaru created?" Sakura's eyes widened and Kakashi smiled with his eyes.

"Little escapes you Sakura." He noted. "Yes, the same Bakemono which Orochimaru created when he was in contract with Hikage. But, Hikage has nothing to do with Orochimaru right now and Bakemono holds no allegiance to him. However, Bakemono is not someone to be taken lightly. According to the Bingo Book, he has brutally murdered every opponent he has ever faced. He was trained among the demons of Hikage forest and has summoning contracts with some of them. He even bases his jutsus off of demon techniques. We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"Right," Sakura nodded. "Can do Kakashi-sensei. But…"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know anything about the Hikage ninja Toya? He's really cute!" She squealed and Kakashi sighed.

* * *

"Rin! Toya!" The two paused at the sound of Naruto's voice as he came running up to them on the streets of Konoha. 

"Hey, Naruto," Rin smiled in greeting. "I said we'd meet again."

"Heh, heh, guess you were right," he smiled. "Listen, I just came to apologize for last night-"

"She was a Sand ninja wasn't she?" Toya interrupted and Naruto nodded.

"That war was bad on both sides. But we had nothing to do with it. We weren't even born yet," Rin explained.

"I believe you," Naruto said and she smiled. "So, what are you guys up to anyway?"

"We're meeting our sensei, Ke, for barbeque, his treat," Toya explained.

"You should come," Rin invited.

"Awesome! I'm starving," Naruto immediately lit up.

* * *

"Pretty," Rei smiled at the necklace in the jewelry shop window. She passed a hand over her now bare forehead as she noticed the absence in the reflection in the window. They had decided last night it would be a good idea to remove their forehead protectors to avoid attention. And frankly, she didn't mind. However, in her distraction she failed to look where she was going. 

"Hey, watch where you're…" Neji trailed off as he looked at the girl he had just run into. She was beautiful. Her long silver hair was spread around her lithe form on the ground as she blinked at him with piercing ice blue eyes. He immediately stood up and held out a hand. "Sorry, that was my fault."

"No really," she shook her head taking his hand and standing up. "I wasn't looking where I was going. It was my fault."

She glanced at him and felt her cheeks warm. He had light lavender eyes with an intense gaze and his dark hair contrasted nicely against his fair skin and framed his handsome features nicely. But her vision was interrupted by a pretty girl with pigtails gathered into buns onto her head.

"Hey, I've never seen you around here. Are you new?" Tenten asked.

"Oh, I'm just visiting Konoha," Rei explained.

"Ah, I see," Tenten nodded and looked back at Neji. A small smirk crept into her face as she noticed a slight blush in her teammate's snow white skin. "Well I'm Tenten. And this is Neji Hyuuga. He's a member of the great Hyuuga clan of Konoha, the carriers of the famous and powerful Byakugan. He's also a jounin, you know, the highest rank of ninja below Hokage. He's very familiar with Konoha and I'm sure he'd be happy to show you around."

"What? What are you saying?" Neji began but by then Tenten had already ran halfway down the street.

"See you later!" She called waving and disappeared around the corner. Neji glared after her and wished his Byakugan could set fire to things before he turned back to Rei. When his lavender eyes met her blue ones his anger melted into a slight blush again.

"So, where's our first stop?" She smiled at him.

* * *

"How do you get yourself into these situations Naruto?" Kakashi sighed as he watched Naruto enter the Barbeque restaurant with the two Hikage genin. "Out of the hundreds of people in Konoha you decide to go to lunch with two Hikage ninjas. I wonder if one of them is the carrier of the tailed demon." 

"You could just ask them yourself," Bakemono suggested as he appeared behind Kakashi. Kakashi nearly fell off the roof and glared back at the Hikage jounin.

"I can't take much more of this," he muttered.

"Hey, who's our guest?" Bakemono asked as he joined Rin, Toya, and Naruto in the restaurant.

"This is Naruto, he's a Konoha ninja we met yesterday," Rin introduced.

"Hey, what's up with the mask?" Naruto pointed to the white disguise.

"What's up with your face?" Bakemono countered and Naruto frowned.

"Huh? Nothing, why? Is there something on it?" He grabbed his cup of water and tried inspecting his reflection.

"Where's Rei?" Bakemono asked seemingly oblivious to the number of stares from the other diners.

"I don't know, we haven't seen her since this morning," Toya shrugged.

"Yeah, she left to explore Konoha," Rin said.

"Sorry!" Rei apologized as she ran up to the table and sat herself down. She looked across the table and smiled at Naruto. "Naruto! I'm glad to see you again!"

"Hey Rei!" Naruto smiled back.

"Is that Naruto?" Asuma squinted across the restaurant. Choji looked over.

"Yeah, that's him," he confirmed.

"And he's with the Hikage ninjas we met yesterday," Ino noted.

"And he's having lunch with Bakemono," Asuma blanched.

"Bakemono? The demon jounin?" Shikamaru asked. "Jeez, Naruto. You really are an idiot."

* * *

"Hikage Village is not to be trusted," Utatane tightened her wrinkled fist. "They entered into negotiations with Orochimaru. They enlisted him to perform forbidden experiments!" 

"But they were desperate at the time," Tsunade intertwined her fingers under her nose. "They didn't even have a sixth of their original numbers left. And at that time we didn't even know Orochimaru's true motives. And in the end he betrayed them making him their enemy as well.

"Besides," she added. "They're extremely weak right now making them an unlikely enemy to us. They're not stupid enough to take us on. And if they have one of the tailed demons-"

"All the more reason not to ally ourselves with them," Mitokado interrupted. "We cannot side with demons. And Hikage is surrounded by them!"

"If we don't protect Hikage and their tailed demon Akatsuki is sure to capture it. Can we really risk them getting one more demon?" She looked around at the elder advisers and they were silent. "I think it _is _in Konoha's best interests to sign this treaty. Although I'd rather not deal with the Ankokukage again."

"I wouldn't mind dealing with Yue or Chiba," Shizune said under her breath and Tsunade smiled.

"They were awfully cute, weren't they?" She smiled and she and her student shared a giggle as the elders groaned.

* * *

"It's so different here," Chiba gazed out over Konoha from the rooftops. Yue leaned on the railing beside him and stared with a slightly bored expression over the village. "It's so, so…" 

"Clean?" Bakemono offered from where he sat on the other side of Chiba facing away from the village. Chiba laughed.

"Yeah, I guess," he smiled. "And friendly. The people are all over the streets. There are so many of them, just like how Hikage used to be."

"What? Hikage had this many people?" Bakemono kicked off the railing and faced the village, unable to believe their dingy, depressing village could ever resemble the clean and bright Konoha.

"Nah," Yue corrected. "Hikage was never as large as Konoha. It could never grow very big because of the demon forest. Too many people equals too much chakra which would attract far too many demons. Before the war with the Sand village Hikage had a much larger population and it was much happier. But after the war our numbers dwindled, the Ankokukage was replaced-"

"With an incompetent pompous son of a bitch," Bakemono finished his sentence.

"Not exactly the words Yue had in mind, I'm sure." Chiba frowned.

"No, Ke summed it up pretty nicely actually," Yue shrugged and Chiba rolled his eyes. "When I was really young, Hikage wasn't that bad of a place to be."

"Hikage could be that again. Hikage could become like Konoha, you know?" Bakemono leaned out over the village. "With the right leader."

He placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder and Chiba looked solemnly at the ground.

"Yeah, maybe," Chiba said softly.

"Do we have to have the narcissistic mountain with Chiba's face on it?" Yue asked motioning towards Konoha's trademark.

"Good point," Bakemono nodded. "I don't know if I can look at your over sized head every day."

"Hey, my face is better that a mask with fangs," Chiba flicked the enamel red fangs on Bakemono's mask.

"Hey now, remember that the mask is far better than Ke's actual face." Yue smiled and Bakemono reached over to hit him but Chiba blocked it. The two of them jumped back and fell into defensive stances. Bakemono stood up on the railing with his arms crossed over his.

"What is this, two against one?" He asked.

"Who said life was fair?" Yue shrugged.

"Well, allow me to even the odds," Bakemono began to form seals for a summoning.

"Oh crap," Chiba muttered as Bakemono's hand landed on the concrete of the roof and the seal shot out. It glowed and a lizard with three inch fangs and even longer claws emerged.

"Hey, that's not fair," Yue pointed at the lizard demon who was currently snapping its jaws at him.

"Who said life was fair, Yue?" Bakemono cocked his head and the demon opened its jaws wide emitting a loud belch. Yue and Chiba threw their arms in front of their faces in order to shield themselves from its breath and their faces twisted in pain.

"Aw, gross!" Chiba plugged his nose as Bakemono cackled wildly.

"That is disgusting!" Yue jumped over the demon and tried to land a punch on Bakemono. But he dodged it and jumped off the roof.

"He's gonna pay for that!" Yue proclaimed before jumping after him. Chiba quickly followed.

* * *

Ke ran along the rooftops trying his best to be spotted not only by Chiba and Yue but by the villagers as well. The last thing he needed was to cause a mass panic because someone saw a monster running around Konoha. However, the rooftops were also where his teammates were going to be searching for him. It was actually must safer for him to try and hide in some of the empty streets of Konoha. He paused and looked down into the crowded market. 

"Oh yeah," Ke surveyed the crowds. "I'll fit right in among all those humans."

He looked around for less crowded areas and spotted an empty street. "Bingo."

Ke jumped down into the street and hugged the wall tight, remaining in the shadows as he made his way to the corner to scope out the situation. He sniffed the air and smelled two, no, three humans. And there were two more coming…two more…

"Oh come on," Ke muttered and took off down the alley. Chiba and Yue quickly came down the alley after him.

"Come back here!" Yue yelled.

"We just want to talk!" Chiba assured.

"Yeah! Like that'll work!" Ke yelled back and turned a corner quickly. He skidded across the road and had to use his hands to keep himself from slamming into the wall from his momentum. He clawed at the ground and flung himself down the alley. Chiba and Yue were close behind him and took the corner in a similar fashion. However, Chiba couldn't handle his momentum and smacked straight into Yue. The two rolled on the ground and struck the wall hard. Yue looked up and saw Ke running towards the three Konoha genin.

"That jutsu is completely useless," Moegi disputed. "No real ninja would fall for it!"

"Why not?!" Konohamaru challenged. "My grandfather fell for it all the time! Besides, boss taught me the basics for this technique and he can't be wrong!"

"Actually," Udon interrupted. "He's been wrong on several occasions."

"Someone stop him!" Chiba yelled desperately towards the genin.

"I'll show you how effective my new jutsu is!" Konohamaru said defiantly. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

A shadow clone of Konohamaru appeared and the two formed hand signs in sync. "Sexy jutsu: Double Girls Knockout!"

The two clones transformed into two extremely sexy girls in an extremely sexy pose. However, Ke merely jumped over the two and continued down the alley.

"That didn't seem to work too well," Udon watched Ke run off. The girls disappeared into the smoke and Konohamaru jumped out.

"See?" Moegi smirked. "I told you it was a stupid jutsu."

"It's worked before!" Konohamaru protested. "Besides, that's Bakemono! The monster of Hikage! Of course he's going to be immune to most human weaknesses!"

"No," Moegi shook her head. "That jutsu won't work on anyone! And to make matters worse, you performed it in front of all three Hikage jounin! Now they think Konoha ninja are a bunch of immature kids!"

"Oh who cares what they think of us?!" Konohamaru threw his hands up in frustration.

"How can you say that?!" Moegi demanded and looked shyly at Yue and Chiba who were dusting themselved off, a slight pink tinge coming to her cheeks. "Of course it matters what they think about us."

She gave a small wave to the two handsome jounin and Konohamaru's eyes narrowed. "Oh I see how it is." Konohamaru created another shadow clone. "Sexy jutsu: Double Guys Knockout!"

Konohamaru and his clone transformed into a naked Yue and Chiba in an even more suggestive pose than his other technique. Their eyes turned slowly and smouldered at Moegi who was quickly turned to a red, drooling, stunned mess.

"What the hell?!" The real Yue demanded when he saw Konohamaru's technique.

"Can he do that?!" Chiba's own face was tinged red.

"Oh my god!" Ke cackled maniacally from behind them all. "That's the best damn jutsu I've ever seen! You should be the next Hokage!"

"Really?!" Konohamaru dispelled the jutsu and turned towards Ke with excitement in his eyes. "Do you really mean it?!"

"Hell yes!" Ke insisted. "In fact, can you teach me that technique?"

"Shut up!" Yue yelled as he appeared behind Ke.

"Idiot!" Chiba agreed as the two of them tackled Ke to the ground.

"Oh come on! That was hilarious!" Ke insisted as he struggled underneath the weight of his two teammates.

"You only say that because you weren't part of that technique!" Yue gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep Ke pinned down.

"Yeah!" Chiba agreed. "How would you like it if you were about to makeout with Yue?!"

"Hey! I wasn't too thrilled that I was about to makeout with you either!" Yue shot back.

"Well, this has been fun and all but I must be going," Ke waved before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The two jounin were left pinning a lizard demon to the ground. Its tongue snaked out and tickled Yue's cheek.

"Disgusting!" Yue yelled and jumped up from the ground with Chiba and the lizard scampered away.

"Well at least someone wants to kiss you," Chiba offered and Yue glared at him.

* * *

Kakashi settled into his seat and pulled out Makeout Tactics. _Ah, finally. Time to read._

"I don't see him anywhere around here," a familiar voice sounded and Kakashi looked up to see Chiba and Yue searching the streets. Kakashi held up a hand in greeting.

"Hey," he said as the two Hikage jounin walked over to him. "What's going on?"

"Just playing tag," Yue shrugged and tapped his book. "You like that stuff?"

"It's interesting," Chiba defended and Yue looked at him incredulously. "It is!"

"I saw your students earlier," Kakashi changed the subject. "They were having lunch with one of my students."

"Oh, the Hikage genin aren't our students," Chiba corrected and Kakashi stumbled.

"Don't tell me they're Bakemono's?" Kakashi's tone was more incredulous than Yue's.

"I wish you wouldn't call him that," Chiba frowned. "We call him Ke. He's an excellent jounin. The very best in all of Hikage. And he's an even better teacher. Those kids are lucky to have him as their teacher."

"Well then, I guess I need to apologize," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I just wish he wouldn't sneak up on me all the time."

"Then you should use your Sharingan more often," Ke said as he appeared behind Kakashi again who nearly fell over.

"Come on," Yue patted him on the back, "I'll buy you a drink."

* * *

"And that's the third training ground down there," Naruto pointed down the street as he and the Hikage genin walked through Konoha. 

"Hey Naruto, do you know Neji Hyuuga?" Rei asked and Naruto paused.

"Neji?" He turned towards her. "Yeah, I beat him way back in my chuunin exam."

"You beat him in the chuunn exam?" Rei cocked her head. "That's odd because he's a jounin now and you're still a genin."

Naruto's face fell as he was reminded of his inferior status.

"Who's Neji?" Rin asked and Rei's face warmed.

"Oh, he's just this guy who showed me around the village this morning," she smiled.

"Hey, what brings you all to Konoha anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Ke-sensei had a mission here and brought us along. We don't really get out of the Country of Darkness much," Rin explained.

"Don't you leave on missions?" Naruto asked.

"We don't get a lot of missions," Rin shrugged. "So anytime we get an excuse to leave we take it."

"Hikage's not exactly the greatest place to live either," Toya added. "It's nice to get out."

"Why don't you like it?" Naruto asked.

"It's a pretty poor village, partially because we don't get any missions to fund it. But it's okay because we don't even live in the village. We live in the forest around it," Rei said.

"You, you live in the forest?" Naruto pointed a shaky finger at them. "The forest full of demons?!"

"They're not that bad when you get used to them," Rin dismissed.

"Well of course you're comfortable with the demons," Toya said and Rin shoved him.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"What? You mean you don't know?" Rin blinked at him in surprise when he shook his head. She laughed and pointed to herself proudly, "I'm the five-tailed dog demon."

* * *

"Ah, so it's her with the Houkou," Kakashi swirled his drink around as he and the Hikage jounin enjoyed a few drinks in the bar. "I won't lie; at first I was sure Ke was the carrier." 

"I'm enough of a freak already. I don't need a demon inside of me too," Ke leaned back and they laughed.

"You, you're the five tailed dog demon?" Naruto pointed at her.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "I'm surprised you couldn't tell. I smelled the Kyuubi in you the moment I met you."

"You knew I had the fox demon?" Naruto's expression softened. "And you're okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Rei cocked her head and Naruto smiled.

"And apparently to Hikage Chuunin, 'stay right here and don't move' means accidentally set off explosives to blow the dam and flood the entire village," Ke shrugged as Chiba and Kakashi laughed. Yue briefly smiled before taking a sip of his drink. Ke glanced at the clock in the corner and stood up. "I think it's about time for my students to be getting back. I should go and meet them. I'll see you all later."

"Bye Ke," Chiba smiled and Yue held up drink while Kakashi waved. Chiba stood up as well, "Nature calls."

"Well," Kakashi leaned in towards Yue who raised an eyebrow. "Now that we're alone, I can ask you seriously. Can Bakemono be trusted?"

"Kakashi," Yue put his drink down and looked the Konoha jounin in the eye. "I have and always will trust _Ke _with my life. And I assure you that you can do the same."

Kakashi nodded.

* * *

"Ah!" Hinata ducked Neji's palm as it came flying at her face. She threw her forearm against his oncoming kick and sent a hand towards his face. He blocked her attack with his arm and slid his forearm against hers, wrapping his hand around her arm and throwing her over his shoulder. She flipped and recovered nicely, landing on her feet. She reaffirmed her fighting stance and looked towards him with her Byakugan activated. However, Neji wasn't even looking at her. She followed his gaze past her to the silver haired girl standing in the entrance to the courtyard. 

"Hi Neji," she smiled at him and he opened his mouth to talk but could only manage a stutter. Hinata couldn't help but smile, this was possibly the weakest she had ever seen her cousin. It was awfully cute.

"I was just coming to say goodbye," she stepped into the courtyard. "We're leaving now but the treaty between our Villages has been signed. So, hopefully I'll be able to visit again."

"Yeah," he had found his voice. "I hope we can go out again, er, I mean."

Neji stuttered and Hinata stifled a giggle.

"Not that we went out," he continued. "I just hope we can see each other again."

"Yeah," Rei looked down at the ground in embarrassment. Biting her lip she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed gently. "Goodbye Neji."

She ran off without looking back so she missed his blush.

* * *

"Rei's late," Naruto noted as he, the Hikage ninja, Tsunade, and Shizune waited at the Konoha's gates. 

"There she is," Rin pointed at her fellow genin as she ran up to the gate.

"Sorry!" She apologized and smiled at Naruto. "Naruto! You came to ssay goodbye!"

"Yeah, I figured you guys should get the royal send off," he shrugged and Tsunade stepped forward.

"Well, I guess this is the end of your visit to Konoha," she said towards the Hikage jounin and extended her hand. She shook Yue and Chiba's firmly but was more hesitant with Ke.

"Don't worry Hokage-sama, I don't bite," Ke assured taking her hand. "Until I know you better."

"Heh, heh, you're a funny one," Tsunade laughed nervously.

Kakashi watched the Hikage ninjas leave Konoha as he read Makeout Tactics from his hidden position in the trees outside Konoha. _I wonder if they'll be back._

He rested comfortably in the tree until Ke turned around and waved, directly at him. He laughed and waved back, _He's good._

* * *

I hope you liked the first chapter! Please, please, please review!!!_  
_


	2. Chapter 2

"Time for morning training," Naruto said as he jogged off towards the training grounds. "I have to work on my taijutsu today, and I should try some target practice with my kunei-"

Naruto stared up from his back at the sky. Tenten's head obscured his vision. "Are you okay Naruto?"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto rubbed his back as he stood up. "I'm fine."

He looked over at Neji who had also stood up and was dusting himself off. "Oh, sorry Neji."

"Hn," Neji grunted and Tenten smiled.

"Oh don't mind him. He's just upset you weren't a certain girl, right Neji?" She elbowed him and he pushed her away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he glared at her.

"Huh, what's going on?" Naruto looked back and forth between the two.

"Oh, Neji just went on this date with this girl named Rei and hasn't seen her since," Tenten explained as Neji's eyes narrowed behind her. She leaned in and whispered, "He's been upset ever since."

"It wasn't a date!" Neji insisted.

"Wait, Rei? Rei Mizuno?" Naruto asked.

"Do you know her?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, we hung out when she was here." Naruto nodded and smiled at Neji. "So, she's your girlfriend, eh Neji?"

"She is not-" Neji begain.

"Neji," Hiashi appeared behind the younger ninja. "It's time for your training, come."

Neji nodded and followed the older Hyuuga but not before glaring back at Tenten and Naruto.

"I can't believe they went on a date," Naruto laughed. "Neji on a date!"

"Yeah, I know," Tenten agreed. "But she hasn't been around for a while."

"Come to think of it, it has been a few months since they visited, hasn't it?" Naruto noted.

* * *

Saliva dripped from the fangs of the shadowed creature as its red eyes groped for a victim. The streets of Konoha were empty though and the beast growled in irritation. But then the wind carried a scent which pricked its nose. He turned towards Konohamaru who was coming down the street and it lunged from behind. Konohamaru froze as he sensed the killing intent and turned in time to see the fangs and claws heading towards him. He didn't even realize he had dodged, it was pure instinct ingrained into him through his ninja training. He avoided the claws again and jumped back putting some distance between the two. He quickly formed hand signs before the creature could lunge again.

It growled and bit into Konohamaru's shoulder. It purred in triumph but it didn't relish his flesh for long. Konohamaru exploded into smoke as the creature bit into wood. It threw his head angrily letting the replacement log slam into the fence. Konohamaru watched the demon thrash wildly in the empty street as he paused to catch is breath. "What is that thing?"

Its longish ears perked up and it turned its red eyes upon Konohamaru's hiding spot. Konohamaru choked, "It heard me?"

The creature let out a roar before lunging towards Konohamaru. But before it could sink its fangs into the real genin it was kicked out of the way. Konohamaru blinked at the jounin standing before him, "Ebisu-sensei?"

"Konohamaru, are you all right?" He asked tilting his head towards his student but not taking his eyes off of the creature.

"Yeah," Konohamaru nodded and stood up on shaky legs. "What is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it won't get away," Ebisu's glasses flashed dangerously. The creature slowly began to back away before jumping away and disappearing in a flash.

"I thought you said you weren't going to let it get away!" Konohamaru yelled and looked for the creature.

"I'm not!" Ebisu's forehead furrowed. "I need to go and report this to Tsunade-sama."

"But it's getting away!" Konohamaru insisted.

"I'll get to it!"

* * *

"What exactly are we looking for?" Asuma asked as he, Kakashi, and Gai searched Konoha.

"A strange black creature with glowing red eyes, fangs, and sharp claws," Kakashi answered.

"Oh, what fun," Asuma muttered.

"There!" Gai pointed to the running shadow beneath them. Kakashi pulled out a kunei and flung it towards the creature. It landed in front and stopped it in its tracks. They landed behind the creature and it turned its red eyes towards them and bared its fangs. It was the size of a large dog with long pointed ears, black fur, huge hind legs, large fangs and claws, and glowing red eyes.

"What is it?" Asuma pulled out his serrated knuckles and fitted them onto his hands. Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector and activated his Sharingan.

"It has a dark aura about it, it must be a demon," he determined.

"This'll be interesting," Gai slid into a fighting stance. Tensing momentarily before he took off Gai threw a punch out. The demon dodged and Gai left a crater in the ground before chasing it out beyond the gates. Asuma lunged with his knuckles and extended the blades with his chakra managing to slice the creature's leg. It howled in pain and snapped at his hand but he retracted it in time.

"Lively thing, isn't it?" Gai regrouped with Asuma and Kakashi.

"Yeah, but now it has nowhere to go," Kakashi noted that the creature had been backed up against a high wall of rock. He formed hand seals then put his hand up to his mouth. "Allow me, Fireball jutsu!"

The creature let out a horrible shriek as it burned to a crisp. Gai dusted off his hands, "Well, that was interesting."

"And it's about to get more interesting," Asuma frowned as he inspected a patch of trees nearby.

"What?" Kakashi asked as he and Gai walked towards him.

"Looks like our little friend left some treats for us," Asuma pointed at six green eggs the size of full grown cats nestled in the grass.

"This can't be good," Kakashi sighed.

* * *

"Hikage Village, eh?" Kakashi said as he looked over the report Shizune had handed him.

"It's about time we invoked that treaty we set up with them, don't you think?" Tsunade looked towards him and Gai. "I'm assigning some more ninjas because of the forest surrounding Hikage. I don't know how they get in and out of their village but I want to make sure our ninjas make it in and out as safely as possible. Your team will consist of you two, Neji for his byakugan to see the demons and his impenetrable defense, Sakura for her strength and healing abilites, and Naruto because he'd complain if he didn't get to go.

"The jounin of Hikage are experts on demon slaying and control. Right now we can't risk destroying the eggs ourselves, we might just trigger them to hatch. And we need to know if there are any other demons or eggs around Konoha. It's your job to bring back Hikage ninjas to help with our demon problem."

"But why not just send a carrier bird?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm afraid it'll get eaten by one of Hikage's demons," Tsunade said dryly.

"Ah," Kakashi nodded. "I see."

"Alright, Tsunade-sama, leave it to us," Gai gave her the thumbs up.

"I hope Yue or Chiba come," Shizune whispered and Tsunade nodded.

"I definitely wouldn't mind either of them showing their cute faces in Konoha again," she agreed and the two giggled.

"Bakemono will probably be the one to come, he is the expert on demons," Gai pointed out.

"He prefers to be called Ke," Kakashi interrupted and Tsunade raised an eyebrow, intrigued by his sudden defense of the jounin.

"Well, whoever comes make sure they come here as soon as possible. Time is of the utmost importance." Tsunade ordered.

* * *

"I can't wait to see the Hikage ninja again," Naruto smiled in anticipation as the Konoha ninja team moved through the tall grass. He leaned over to Neji. "I bet you're excited to see Rei, eh Neji?"

"Don't get too excited, we still don't know if we can trust them," Sakura reminded and Naruto frowned.

"If we don't give them a chance," Kakashi spoke up, "we'll never know. Now will we, Sakaura?"

"Oh, yes Kakashi-sensei," Sakura frowned. _Weren't you the one to tell me to be careful around Bakemono?_

"Well there it is," Gai announced as the forest came into view. It was a dark patch of black and green. Twisted vines wrapped around the gnarled old trees with branches that seemed more like claws than wood. "The famed Hikage forest. That's an even better defense than yours, Neji. It's the only reason why such a small village like Hikage has been able to survive so long."

"Our strategy is stealth," Kakashi informed. "We will avoid all contact with demons. Even if we can defeat the ones we encounter we will only expend chakra which will surely attract bigger demons."

The other ninja nodded in agreement as he formed the signs for a summoning. Pakkun appeared from where he had slammed his hand down on the ground.

"Yo," the small dog raised its paw in greeting. Neji activated his Byakugan and he and Pakkun led with the others close behind as they delved into the dark Hikage forest.

* * *

Kotetsu and Izumo leaned heavily against the trees surrounding the demon eggs.

"This is boring," Kotetsu scratched his nose. "I almost wish one would hatch so we could get some action."

As soon as the words left his mouth one of the eggs began to move. Izumo and he fell into defensive stance and watched the egg with held breath. A large bug emerged from underneath the egg and went on its way. They exhaled.

"I wonder why the bug can touch the egg without triggering a hatching and we can't," Kotetsu said.

"Because the eggs need a fairly large amount of chakra to prematurely hatch. A bug can't supply that much chakra, but a human easily can. And if there's a human who's stupid enough to touch them, they'll immediately hatch and start to wreak havoc on Konoha," Izumo explained and Kotetsu frowned.

"I never thought I'd say it but I hope the Hikage ninja get here soon."

Pakkun sniffed the ground while Neji searched digilently with his Byakugan as the others followed close behind. Naruto frowned in annoyance. "We've been here for over an hour, just how deep is this stupid forest?"

"Shh!" Sakura shushed and he winced. "Do you want to attract demons?"

Naruto sighed and kicked a rock absently. The rock rolled away and knocked against a boulder. A crack appeared and Naruto stopped. The crack split and sent the pieces of the boulder crashing into more rocks and it caused a huge chain reaction sending rubble crashing down to the forest below. The crash echoed through the dilapidated trees.

"Idiot!" Sakura yelled and began to shake Naruto violently.

"Look out!" Neji yelled as a huge centipede like creature came crawling towards them. Its hundred legs moved at the speed of light as its pinchers gnashed violently in anticipation of a meal. Its eyes glowed red as the strange markings along its backside coated with what looked like fur glowed accordingly.

Naruto jumped into the trees as it buried it's pinchers in the ground he had just occupied. He threw a kunei down at it but it merely deflected off its tough shell. He landed on a branch and frowned. "Damn, it didn't even make a scratch."

"Take this!" Sakura yelled as she aimed a punch towards its head. It scurried out of the way and she ended up punching the ground and upsetting the tree Naruto was standing on, sending him crashing to the ground. He jumped away just in time.

"Watch it Sakura!" He yelled and she glared at him.

"Don't yell at me! You're the one who brought it here!" She clenched her fists and he flinched. But before they could argue any further the centipede creature loomed above them. Naruto threw himself in front of Sakura in an instant with his arms extended, intending to take the blow. However, the centipede was struck by what seemed to be an avalanche of rocks and mud coming down the hillside. It rolled away from the ninja down the hill and into the forest.

Naruto looked down the steep drop after it. "That was weird, where did that avalanche come from?"

"Naruto?" A familiar voice asked. He turned to see Rei standing up on the hill above them.

"Rei!" He waved cheerfully. She half ran, half slid down the hill and ran up to them in greeting.

"I can't believe it's you!" She smiled brightly but froze at the sight of Neji. She blushed slightly. "Neji, you're here too."

"Yeah, we're here on-" Neji began.

"A very important mission," Gai interrupted and Neji frowned. "Now what are you doing in the forest all alone, little girl? Shouldn't you be home with your mommy and daddy?"

"She's a Hikage genin, Gai," Kakashi sighed and pointed at her forehead protector. "Although that still doesn't mean you should be all alone in this forest."

"But don't you live here in the forest?" Naruto asked and Rei nodded.

"Yeah, me, Rin, Toya, and Ke-sensei all live here," she confirmed and the Konoha ninja winced.

"You live in the forest full of demons?!" Sakura blinked in disbelief.

"Maybe Ke really is an insane monster," Kakashi muttered.

* * *

"I can't believe you live in the forest," Neji commented as he and Rei walked up front with Pakkun.

"It's really not that bad when you get used to it," Rei shrugged. "Besides, it's way better than living in the village."

"What?" Neji looked at her in confusion.

"Whoa! This is where you live?!" Naruto ran ahead. Neji followed him with his eyes. Without him knowing it they had emerged into a large meadow. It was at least three square miles of beautiful tall yellow grass and flowers. In the center of it all was a very large house with an adjoining greenhouse along with several small outdoor gardens. Rei headed towards the house and waved them on.

"This place is so pretty," Sakura passed her hand over the flowers as they headed towards the house.

"Toya, Rin, and I live in that house with Ke-sensei. He built it and brought us out here away from the village to train," Rei explained.

"I wonder how he built the house?" Kakashi questioned.

"With wood and stone," Ke answered as he appeared behind Kakashi who flinched. The Copy Cat ninja turned slowly towards the Hikage jounin and sighed.

"You really need to stop doing that."

* * *

Gai inspected the thousands of books and scrolls which lined the shelves of Ke's study. They spilled out from the shelves into disorderly stacks on the ground and practically buried Ke's desk. There was barely room to walk around all of the texts that were crammed into the room. Gai returned his gaze to the shelves and nodded approvingly at the scrolls detailing the taijutsu of various countries. Then he noticed the majority of the room had been devoted to demon texts. "This is an impressive collection, Bake, er, I mean Ke. I've never seen so many texts on demons," Gai noted.

"That's because there are maybe three scrolls on demons. I wrote most of these," Ke said and Gai looked at him in surprise.

"Really? All of them? There must be hundreds here," Gai nodded approvingly at the shelves.

"Yeah, well I've had a lot of experience," Ke shrugged. Kakashi walked around aimlessly, his eye meandering over the books. However his eye opened wide and he flew towards a shelf. Picking up a book with shaking hands his eye shone. He thrust the book towards Ke.

"You have the special editions of the Makeout Paradise series! With author commentary!" He said in awe. "Can I please, please, please borrow them?"

"Sure," Ke shrugged. "I haven't even read them."

"You, you, haven't read them?" Kakashi stammered and Ke nodded.

"Yeah, Chiba gave them to me as a gift. I couldn't get past the first chapter though," Ke explained and Kakashi's face fell.

"I remember spending much of my youth in the library studying ninjutsu, genjutsu, and especially taijutsu. Ah, the springtime of youth!" Gai's eyes began to shine.

"What's up with him?" Ke whispered to Kakashi as Gai clenched his fists and pumped them into the air, seemingly in his own reverie.

"Yeah, he'll do that sometimes. It's best just to ignore him," Kakashi dismissed.

"So, why did you guys come to Hikage anyway? I'm sure you weren't just taking a stroll." Ke said.

"Well, it seems as if Konoha has developed a demon problem," Kakashi began. "A demon was sighted in Konoha and we were able to destroy it but it has appeared to have laid eggs. We wanted to recruit one of Hikage's ninjas to exterminate the eggs and make sure there aren't any eggs or demons left around Konoha."

"You can to the right place, that's for sure." Ke nodded. "Now tell me, what did the demon look like?"

"It was about two and a half feet all, four feet long, long pointed ears, fangs, claws, glowing red eyes," he described the creature.

"Fur or scales?" Ke asked.

"Fur," Gai had snapped out of his reverie. "Black fur."

"How long were the ears?'

"I'd say about a foot and a half." Kakashi tapped his cloth covered lips with his finger.

"Were they skinny ears or flat fat ones?"

"Skinny," Gai clarified. Ke cocked his head and walked over to the shelves and began to pull out scrolls. He glanced at each one before throwing them aside. Kakashi ducked to avoid one of the projectiles and glared at Ke angrily. But Ke was oblivious to his anger and continued to search through the texts. He succeeded in emptying out most of the bottom shelves before gazing up at the upper shelves. Ke animalistically climbed up the bookshelves and began to search through the upper shelves. Kakashi and Gai hopped around below to avoid the scrolls and texts as they rained down upon them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kakashi demanded but Ke remained ignorant of their annoyance. Finally, he pulled out a scroll and nodded. Unrolling it he turned it over to face them.

"Was this it?" He showed the picture of a demon to them.

"Yeah! That's it!" Gai nodded vehemently.

"Well it looks like you have a rabbit demon problem," Ke informed as he jumped down.

"A rabbit?" Kakashi blinked. "Are you sure? It was pretty vicious to be just a rabbit."

"Oh rabbits can be mean," Ke put his hands in his pockets and leaned against his desk. "With their cute little whiskers, button noses, and puffy little tails. Real nasty little things."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you," Kakashi crossed his arms and Ke shrugged.

"It's a _demon _rabbit, it's going to be a little tougher than just a rabbit," he said. "The good news is its eggs are easily destroyed with ofuda. When were the eggs laid?"

"Don't know, we just found them after we destroyed the demon," Kakashi said.

"What color were they?"

"Green," Gai said and Ke nodded.

"Good, green means they were recently hatched. We don't have to start worrying until they turn red."

* * *

"Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu," Shikamaru called as he, Kiba, and Akamaru, approached his fellow chuunin in the forest. "We're here to relieve you."

"Well, I hate to tell you this but there's not a whole lot going on," Izumo said.

"Yeah, it's pretty boring," Kotetsu agreed.

"Meh, I'd rather have boring eggs than full bred demons," Shikamaru shrugged.

"Well then, this job'll be perfect for you," Izumo waved as he and Kotetsu left.

"Babysitting eggs, eh?" Kiba knelt down next to the six eggs. "The glories of being a chuunin."

"Hey, don't get too close!" Shikamaru warned. 'They feed off of chakra."

"Oh relex, we're fine, right Akamaru?" Kiba motioned towards the dog who only whined. "What's wrong Akamaru?"

"Hey," Shikamaru knelt beside Akamaru and inspected the eggs. "Look at these. Why are these two red and the other four green?"

"Something doesn't smell right," Kiba frowned.

* * *

Ke shoved some scrolls in a backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Turning to Gai and Kakashi he said, "I'll go to Konoha and get rid of the demons. It'll be quick and painless. I won't even have to go inside the village if we're lucky."

"You're going now?" Gai asked. "Shouldn't we report to the Ankokukage?"

"I generally try and avoid all contact with him, so reporting to him might be a problem," Ke said.

"We should report to him," Kakashi insisted. "The Ankokukage should assign an official mission and put together a team."

"Fine, we'll go to the freaking village," Ke gave up.

* * *

"I can't believe this beautiful of a garden is in the middle of this horrible forest," Sakura breathed in the fresh daisies which grew around the house.

"Yeah, it is a bit strange," Neji's brow furrowed. "Why aren't demons constantly attacking this house? Or for that matter, the village?"

"Because they're scared of Ke-sensei," Rei shrugged.

"Well, why didn't demons attack the village before Ke?" Neji asked.

"One of the three founding clans of Hikage was the Chiba clan. They were originally very gifted priests who created a spiritual barrier around the village to ward off demons," Rei explained.

"So Hikage is pretty much impenetrable, huh?" Naruto crossed his hands behind his head. "Between the demon forest and the spiritual barrier nothing can get to the village."

"But if the spiritual barrier was broken," Neji began.

"Then the demons would overrun Hikage, destroying it from the inside." Sakura finished.

"That's one of the biggest fears of the Ankokukage. But Ke-sensei won't let it happen," Rei assured. "No one has ever made it through Hikage forest without Ke-sensei knowing."

"What do you mean, without Ke knowing?" Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Ke-sensei was the one who sent me to you guys in the forest. I didn't even know you were there, he just told be to patrol that area. Ke-sensei is allied with a lot of the demons in the forest who act as lookouts and informants for him."

"So he's trained among demons, takes his jutsus from him, and now he friends with him?" Naruto blanched. "This guy is pretty weird. I wonder if he has a demon face too."

"Why else would he wear that mask?" Sakura shuddered. "His real face must be terrifying."

"Well, I'm not obliged to tell," Rei shook her head and Naruto frowned.

"Aw, you're not fun."

"You're welcome to figure it out," she invited.

"Hey Neji-" Naruto began.

"No." He shot him down.

"You don't even know what I was about to ask!"

"You were going to ask for me to use my Byakugan to see Bakemono's face."

"Lucky guess," Naruto pouted.

"My Byakugan isn't a toy!" He yelled.

"Hey!" Ke yelled as he, Gai, and Kakashi came out of the house. "We're going to the village to consult the Ankokukage about the demon situation in Konoha."

"We, we're going to village?" Rei asked her face contorted with worry.

"Don't worry," Ke placed a gloved hand on her head. "You're not coming. You're going to stay here and try not to burn the house down. Rin and Toya should be back soon."

"We'll be back," Kakashi said to Naruto and Sakura as they walked off. Neji's eyes, however, were on Rei.

_Why didn't she want to go into the village?_

* * *

"Do you guys want anything to eat?" Rei asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, what are these?" Naruto asked as he found a plate of round balls dusted with a powder on the table.

"You're welcome to try them," Rei pushed them towards him. "They're really good."

"Wow!" Naruto's face lit up as he bit into it. "These are amazing!"  
"They're delicious," Sakura agreed and even Neji nodded in approval. "Who made them?"

"Ke-sensei," Rei informed and Naruto flinched.

"He's a baker too?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hey, I think Rin and Toya are back," Sakura pointed out the window at the returning ninja.

Naruto ran to the entrance and waved as they came into the door.

"Naruto?" Rin blinked at him but broke out in a smile. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"We're here on a mission," Naruto explained as Sakura, Neji, and Rei appeared behind him.

"A mission eh?" Rin raised an eyebrow when she saw Neji. She leaned in close to Rei. "Is it a mission of love?"

"Shut up!" Rei hissed before Rin stomach growled loudly.

"Fine, shut me up with some food. I'm starving!" Rin clutched her stomach.

"Dinner's not for another hour," Toya glanced at the clock in the hall. "Maybe you can have a snack. Unless you guys are hungry too."

Naruto's stomach answered.

"I guess we're eating then!" Rin smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah, and it's your turn to cook," Toya smiled at her and she frowned.

* * *

Kakashi pulled out a kunei and pressed it against his finger. Ke glanced over at him and reached out to still his hand. "You don't need your dog here."

"How did you know about Pakkun?" Kakashi asked putting the kunei back in his pack.

"Hake told me," he shrugged.

"What's a Hake?" Gai asked before a furry creature the size of a cat fell on his head. Gai scrambled with the creature before tossing it aside and holding out his fists in defense.

"Not your most graceful moment, Hake," Ke picked the furry creature up and set him on his feet.

"I slipped," it muttered and brushed itself off. It glanced back at Gai who was eying it dangerously. He flinched and hid behind Ke. "Don't let him hurt me!"

"He's not going to hurt you," Ke assured. "Gai, Kakashi, this is Hake. He's a raccoon demon who serves as my eyes and ears in this forest."

"Hello there, little guy," Kakashi leaned down and held out his hand. Hake took his index finger and shook tentatively. "Are you going to protect us from all the big bad demons in this forest?"

"I don't think Hake's quite up to that responsibility quite yet," Ke rubbed Hake's head affectionately and Hake purred. "But don't worry, the demons won't attack us. The ones who aren't my summons are scared of me." Ke let Hake drop to the ground as they continued through the forest.

"I know the demons won't hurt us," Gai whispered to Kakashi. "But what about him?"

"I heard that," Hake muttered as he plodded next to them and Gai flinched.

"You don't tell Ke everything, do you?" Gai asked leaning down next to the raccoon demon. He blinked at him with his large black eyes.

"Yeah, pretty much everything," he said and ran up to Ke.

* * *

"What do you think this is Sakura?" Naruto asked as he ran his fingers along the strings of the cello.

"Don't touch it!" Sakura warned and shoved him away from the instrument. "You're just gonna break it!"

"They're not that fragile," Naruto pouted as he looked around the instruments which littered the room. "Who do you think plays all of these? Bakemono?"

"I'd be surprised if it was. How cultured can a ninja raised by demons be?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto, Sakura," Toya greeted as he found them in the room. Sakura turned around startled and Naruto quickly dropped the drumsticks he was holding.

"Hey Toya, can Bakemono play all of these?" Naruto waved his hand towards the instruments.

"He can play most of them," Toya confirmed as he placed a hand on the piano. "He can play the piano best. But the majority of these instruments are mine."

"You mean, you can play all of these?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, when I came here to train with Ke-sensei he taught me to play the piano and a few other instruments. I kept going and learned how to play these others on my own. It actually wasn't that hard once I got started."

"Well," Sakura sidled up next to him blushing. "Can you play us something?"

"Yeah, no," Toya shook his head and backed away from her. "I don't think so."

"Come on, play something on the piano!" Naruto pushed him down to the bench and pulled up the dust cover for him. Toya frowned in annoyance before cracking his fingers. He set them upon the keys and began to play. Naruto and Sakura listened in admiration as he began. Soon enough he began to sing.

"_Step one you say we need to talk_

_He walks you say sit down it's just a talk_

_He smiles politely back at you_

_You stare politely right on through_

_Some sort of window to your right_

_As he goes left and you stay right_

_Between the lines of fear and blame_

_And you begin to wonder why you came_

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night_

_Had I known how to save a life_

_Let him know that you know best_

_Cause after all you do know best_

_Try to slip past his defense_

_Without granting innocence_

_Lay down a list of what is wrong_

_The things you've told him all along_

_And pray to God he hears you_

_And pray to God he hears you_

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night_

_Had I known how to save a life_

_As he begins to raise his voice_

_You lower yours and grant him one last choice_

_Drive until you lose the road_

_Or break with the ones you've followed_

_He will do one of two things_

_He will admit to everything_

_Or he'll say he's just not the same_

_And you'll begin to wonder why you came_

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night_

_Had I known how to save a life."_

"Wow," Sakura said softly. "That was really good."

"What's wrong?" Toya frowned at their saddened expressions. "Naruto? Sakura? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Toya," Naruto shook his head. "You're really good. And you have a really good voice. It's just that song reminded me of…of something."

* * *

Neji wandered around the greenhouse behind Ke's house and glanced around at the hundreds of plants. One plant caught his eyes. It had bright dark green leaves with beautiful white flowers. He leaned in towards the plant and inspected the blooms closer. The petals were slender and so thin they were transluscent giving the illusion of silver petals. He reached out and brushed his finger against the petal. He felt a small prick and the plant's buds burst into full bloom. He jumped back in shock.

"It feeds off your chakra," Rei's voice called from behind. He turned to see her walking towards him.

"It feeds off of chakra?" He questioned and she nodded adjusting the pot.

"Yeah, you see, it's not really a plant. It's a form of plant demon. They're all over the forest too."

"Hmm, this place seems to be infested with demons," Neji looked around distastefully and she shook her head.

"Not everything here is a demon," she said and waved her hand towards a bucket of water. She motioned with her hands drawing the water up into the air and flicked her wrist, sending the airborne stream into another potted plant. "See? This one needs water, not chakra."

"How," Neji pointed to her. "How did you do that? How did you move the water like that?"

"Huh? Oh. It's an element manipulation jutsu," she explained.

"But you didn't even make any hand signs," Neji disputed and Rei shrugged.

"It comes naturally now, I don't really need to make the hand signs to focus my chakra. Apparently my clan is supposed to be really good at manipulating elements."

"Clan?" Neji's brow furrowed. "What clan did you say you were part of?"

"Clan?" Rei blushed. "Oh, well."

"Dinner's ready!" Rin said from the doorway.

* * *

Kakashi, Gai, and Ke made their way through the streets of Hikage. It was smaller than Konoha and a great deal more deserted. Despite it being the middle of the day there weren't children running around the street or mothers and fathers on their way to market. Instead there were a few groups of two or three shady looking chuunins sporting the Hikage insignia. Gai frowned when he saw a few chuunin chatting with what had to be prostitutes.

"Where exactly in Hikage are we?" Gai asked as one of the prostitutes winked at him.

"Main street," Ke answered and Gai frowned. Gai leaned in close to Kakashi.

"Something is a little off here, don't you think?" He asked.

"Here we are," Ke announced as a large gated building towered before them.

"Why is it gated off like that?" Kakashi frowned and Ke shrugged before walking past the chuunin guards who looked at him warily. They walked through a small garden with lovely fountains and flowers.

"This seems awfully nice," Kakashi looked around.

"Especially when compared to the deplorable conditions outside," Gai's frown deepened. Ke led them through the doors of the building and up the stairs. Portraits of past Ankokukages lined the stairwell.

"They all look…very similar," Kakashi noted.

"That's because they're all members of the Chiba clan," Ke said as the mounted the top of the stairs and passed into the hallway. "Every single Ankokukage has descended from the Chiba clan in some way or another."

"Kakashi? Gai?" A familiar voice called from behind. The three paused and turned to see Chiba and Yue coming towards them. "What are you two doing here?"

"They're here because Konoha has a demon infestation," Ke explained.

"Well, you came to the right place," Chiba assured.

"And this place," Gai looked around. "What is it exactly?"

"This is the Ankokukage's residence," Chiba informed.

"It's very…nice," Kakashi noted.

"That's because the Ankokukage siphons off all the money from the village to pay for his own expenses," Yue said bluntly. "Come on, his office is this way."

"Is he always this direct?" Kakashi whispered to Chiba.

"Unfortunately," Chiba rolled his eyes.

They entered the Ankokukage's office. He raised his eyes in mild surprise. "Konoha ninja, this is a surprise."

He looked past them towards Ke. "But not as big of a surprise as you, Bakemono. Why the hell are you here?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't be here unless they made me come," Ke jutted his thumb towards Gai and Kakashi.

"Well, we don't exactly want you here either," he sneered and Kakashi and Gai exchanged looks.

"Ankokukage-sama," Gai addressed the older man. "Konoha has recently encountered a demon. Although we destroyed it, it left behind six eggs. We were hoping to have some Hikage ninja come and exterminate the eggs."

"Well, we'll do anything to help our Konoha bretheren," he smiled. "I'll put together a team of chuunin-"

"Our chuunin couldn't tell their asses from their faces," Ke interrupted. "None of them can cast the ofuda needed to destroy the eggs properly."

"Well I won't risk sending one of you three out. It would leave Hikage completely unprotected," the Ankokukage shook his head.

"Oh, like how you left it unprotected when we went to Konoha in a pathetic attempt to show off our strength?" He shot back.

"You insolent little-" the Ankokukage stood up with his hands fisted.

"Maybe one of the genin can go," Chiba put himself between the two. "After all, they know how to cast the ofuda. And they're experts on demons because of Ke's training."

"Fine," the Ankokukage agreed stiffly. "The three genin will go. Toya will be team leader."

"But Rin's a far more capable leader." Ke argued.

"There's no way I'm making a stupid little demon girl a team leader," he hissed. "Toya is the leader."

"That's fine," Yue nodded and grabbed Ke around the arm dragging him out of the room.

"Thank you, Ankokukage-sama," Kakashi thanked before following them out. Gai bowed in respect and quickly followed as well. Yue dragged Ke around the corner and pulled him into a room. Kakashi, Gai, and Chiba entered and Chiba shut the door behind them. Yue let Ke go who immediately grabbed a hold of a table and let it fly towards a wall. It splintered into pieces but he didn't pause to watch. Instead he kicked a chair in and smashed a lamp on the floor. He continued his rampage until every stick of furniture in the room was destroyed.

"Violent, isn't he?" Kakashi looked on in disbelief as Ke went after the windows. The glass shattered and sprinkled into shards on the ground around Ke's feet. Ke stood there with his fists clenched staring out of the broken windows.

"Are you done?" Yue asked and Ke glanced back at them. Gai and Kakashi flinched as the demon jounin's black enamel eyes stared back at them. He looked away towards the night table which was the only intact furniture left. He knocked over the glass on its top and then let out a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm done." He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"It's okay," Chiba said as he kicked some of the debris. "I can always get new furniture."

"This is your room?" Gai asked and Chiba nodded. "Why do you live with the Ankokukage?"

"Because he's my father," Chiba said simply and the Konoha ninja were shocked.

_How did such a jerk raise someone as kind as Chiba?_ Kakashi wondered.

* * *

"The stars are so bright out here," Sakura stared up in wonder at the sky framed by the dark trees around them. "It's so beautiful."

Neji looked over at Rei and his expression softened, "Yeah, beautiful."

"Hey! We're back!" Kakashi announced as he, Gai, and Ke came out of the woods.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto waved in greeting as the three jounin approached them.

"When are you leaving for Konoha?" Rei asked.

"Never," Ke shrugged. "You three have been assigned to go instead. Toya, you've been chosen as team leader."

"What?" His eyes flashed. "That doesn't even make any sense! Rin's a far better leader than I am!"

"Then make it your first official decision to make Rin the leader," Ke suggested and Toya smiled. Ke motioned towards the house. "Come on. It's too late for you to leave now. You'll leave tomorrow morning. You all are welcome to stay too. Unless you want to camp out in the woods with the demons, of course."


	3. Dumbest Chapter Ever

A small tribute to one of the greatest episodes ever in the Naruto series!

Neji adjusted his pajamas before packing the rest of his things in his rucksack and placed it at the foot of the bed. He looked back up to get ready for bed but was met with a pair of mischevious blue eyes.

"Get off of my bed," Neji ordered sternly.

"Don't you want to see?" Naruto's face had twisted into a playful but still horrifying expression.

"See what?" Neji began to back away.

"Bakemono's face!"

"I already told you my Byakugan isn't a toy!"

"Fine fine," Naruto waved his hand and sat back on Neji's bed but continued his smile. "But who says we'll use your Byakugan?"

Neji raised an eyebrow.

"I have a plan," Naruto said.

"Not interested," Neji said immediately and began to get into bed.

"Come on! I know you're dying to see what kind of face could be so bad it needs to be hidden by a mask like that!"

"I'm fine actually," Neji said and lay down. But before he could fall asleep a light knock sounded at the door. Sakura peeked her head in.

"Are you guys ready?"

"He's tricked you into this?" Neji asked in disbelief and Sakura shrugged smiling.

"C'mon, don't tell me you're not the least bit curious about it," she said and Neji looked away indignantly.

"Think about it Neji," Naruto leaned in uncomfortably close. "A ninja known far and wide as a monster, who lived among demons for the better part of their life, whose very jutsus are based off of demons themselves has got to have a face worth seeing!"

"Dammit," Neji muttered and Naruto exchanged a smile with Sakura.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed. "We better not get caught doing this!"

"Relax," Naruto assured as he, Sakura, and Neji crept down the darkened hall. "We're not going to get caught-"

Suddenly, the wall Naruto had been hugging slid open and he fell into the room. He looked up at Rin who was blinking sleepily at him.

"What's on your head?" She pointed at him.

"It's a nightcap," Naruto defended touching the hat affectionately.

"What the hell are you guys doing creeping around like this?" She asked while stifling a yawn.

"We're trying to see Bakemono's face," Naruto explained as he stood up and brushed his pajamas off. "I figured it would be best to attack at night when he's sleeping, you know? Take him by surprise?"

"Good luck with that," Rin snorted and Neji frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Ke-sensei doesn't sleep," Rin explained.

"That's impossible," Sakura argued. "He has to sleep sometime."

"Nope," Rin insisted. "Ke has never slept one minute; not in this house at least. Lots of times he'll go off into the woods but I doubt anyone can sleep there."

"Great," Neji muttered.

"Well, we still have the element of surprise," Naruto insisted. "We can still get him!"  
"Actually, you don't have the element of surprise either," Rin shook her head.

"What now?" Naruto groaned.

"Geke and his brothers are Ke's scouts in this house."

"Geke? What's a Geke?" Sakura asked and Rin pursed her lips in thought. Her face lit up with an idea and she rapped on the wall three times.

"Geke! Can you and your brothers show yourself for just a second?!" She called. After a moment or two the walls shimmered and hundreds of large geckos appeared. They were crawling everywhere!

"Eww!" Sakura squealed as she backed away from the walls.

"Holy crap," Naruto looked around in amazement.

"We're never going to see his face," Neji sighed as the lizards camouflaged themselves again and disappeared.

"Are those things everywhere?" Sakura rubbed her arms afraid that the lizards were on her as well.

"They're everywhere in this house except the bathrooms and bedrooms," Rin said. "It's Ke-sensei's own surveillance system. So yeah, good luck!"

She smiled before sliding her door shut.

"I'm going back to bed," Neji sighed and turned to leave but Naruto grabbed his arm.

"Come on! We've gotten through tougher scrapes than this!" He insisted. "We can do this! Believe it!"

"Well then we better get to see this guy's face," Sakura frowned. "Remember the last time we tried this?"

"You've tried this before?" Neji demanded.

"Yeah, but that was with Kakashi-sensei," Naruto explained. "There's no way this guy is as good as Kakashi-sensei."

"You better be right," Neji practically growled. "I'm not wasting my sleep for nothing."

"Shh!" Naruto warned as they approached the door of Ke's room. He listened at the door and heard the sound of running water. "I think he's in the shower. Yes! That means there are none of those lizards to warn him, now is our chance. Sakura, watch the door!"

"Dammit," Sakura muttered as Neji and Naruto slid the door open and entered. "I get left out again."

Neji and Naruto crept carefully into the room and looked around. It was a fairly bare room with a bed, desk, lamp, and a single window. The bed was nothing more than an incredibly old mattress with a tattered blanket. The desk was littered with scrolls and ink where Ke no doubtedly recorded his studies on demons. The window, however, had a lovely view of the meadow.

"It looks like he barely even lives here," Neji noted as he patted the bed and a cloud of dust emitted.

"But he does shower here," Naruto jutted his thumb towards what had to be the bathroom door. Suddenly, the sound of running water stopped and they heard the sounds of Ke getting out of the tub. Naruto and Neji ducked behind the bed and waited with held breath. The door slid open and they heard Ke take his first step out onto the wood floor of the bedroom.

"Got you!" Naruto yelled as he and Neji leapt up from their hiding place. And there stood Ke surrounded by steam. They couldn't quite makeout his features but he began to step forward from the fog.

"That was a lovely shower," Ke announced as he emerged from the steam with a towel around his waist and was rubbing his head vigorously with another towel. Neji and Naruto's faces fell at the sight of him. He was completely dry and clothed head to toe in black with his mask firmly in place.

"You shower in all of those clothes?!" Naruto waved his hands frantically. Ke let the towel hang around his shoulders and shrugged.

"Only when I have nosy ninjas in my room," he said and Naruto and Neji sighed.

* * *

Kakashi slowly slid the door open and leaned heavily against the frame as he blinked sleepily at Ke.

"You wear your mask when you're sleeping?" He cocked his head.

"You do too," Kakashi defended pointing at Ke's porcelain face.

"I'm not sleeping," Ke corrected and Kakashi rubbed his head.

"What do you want at this hour?" He stifled a yawn. "Is there something wrong?"

"I'm actually here to ask permission to mess with your students," Ke explained and Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "They're sneaking around the house trying to see what's under my mask."

"What's up with them and masks?" Kakashi wondered before shrugging. "Do whatever you want as long as it does no emotional, mental, or physical harm."

"Well that just takes all the fun out of it," Ke sighed and Kakashi looked at him in alarm. Ke waved his hand dismissing his reaction, "Relax, I'm just kidding."

"Yeah," Kakashi nodded warily before sliding the door shut. "Sure."

* * *

"Do we have to be outside?" Sakura asked as her teeth chattered in the cold night air.

"Unless we want to be spied on by those lizard demon things, yes," Naruto nodded as he paced up and down. "All right, so we know the only place we can catch him is in a bedroom."

"But we already tried that," Sakura disputed. "He knew you were coming even though he was in the shower."

"Well," Neji began. "Chances are he has scouts in his own bedroom and bathroom. He just doesn't have them in any of the others due to privacy. So, we can still bet on the other bedrooms being clean."

"Right," Naruto nodded. "Now the question is which bedroom?"

"One of ours," Neji said. "We know them the best and can set up a trap without being suspicious."

"So, what's the trap then?" Sakura asked. "And which one of our bedrooms?"

"Well," Neji pursed his lips. "They're all identical in setup and size so I guess it doesn't really matter. Although, he's probably counting on us setting up traps in our bedrooms."

"But he doesn't know which one," Sakura pointed out and Naruto smiled.

"I have an idea," Naruto said. "He's probably expecting only one trap."

"What are you saying?" Neji's eyes narrowed.

"We set up traps in all of our bedrooms. That way when he falls for one he won't expect another in the same place," Naruto said.

"It just might work," Sakura let the plan roll around in her head.

"Fine, but if this one doesn't work I'm going to bed," Neji said.

* * *

Ke walked down the darkened hallway and glanced at the hallway clock reading 2:30 am. He shook his head and approached Naruto's room. He knocked on the door and waited. He sighed and knocked again, "Naruto? My scouts reported strange noises from your room. Are you okay? Naruto?"

Ke listened for an answer but received none. He sighed again and pushed the door open. He entered the darkened room and saw that Naruto was pretending to sleep in his bed, "I know you're awake."

Naruto let out a snore and Ke rolled his eyes behind his mask and glanced around the room, "Oh, it looks like he's sleeping. I guess there's no way a bunch of shadow clones are hiding around the room waiting for an opening to attack."

"You!" Naruto growled as the Shadow Clones emerged from the room and came towards Ke. He dodged the younger ninja's punches and kicks easily and landed each of his own causing the clones to explode into nothing. He grabbed one of the multiples by the arm and swung him around into more clones causing them to disappear before flinging it into a group of Narutos. Five more down and only three remaining.

"Dammit!" Naruto muttered as he formed more hand signs. "Mass shadow clone jutsu!"

Ke glanced around at the room now filled to the ceiling with Narutos who were all extremely angry at him.

"Damn," Ke muttered, impressed as they lunged at him. He was quickly overcome, and buried, by the sheer number of the Narutos. Soon enough, the Narutos pumped their fists into the air in triumph before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Only six Narutos remained, five occupied in holding Ke down and the last one stood to the side rubbing his hands together greedily.

"Finally," he smirked and reached for Ke's mask. His fingers curled around the hard enamel as his smile widened. He yanked upwards, "Your face is-"

Naruto stared in disbelief at his own blond hair and blue eyes. His shadow clone spit out the gag Ke had stuffed into its mouth, "He tricked us!"

The other clones dropped their brother and he began to pull off the covering black clothes.

"This guy is good," Naruto said and the others murmured in agreement.

* * *

Ke climbed in through the hallway window and gently slid it shut behind him. He began to walk down the hallway but stopped when Geke shimmered into existence above him. It hissed and motioned towards a door. Ke sighed and walked towards it and rapped on the door. Again, no answer.

"Sakura," Ke called as he pushed the door open. "My scouts reported a disturbance. Is there anything wrong?"

"Take this!" Sakura yelled as she aimed a punch at Ke's head. However, Ke was too quick and disappeared into a shadow. Sakura skidded to a stop and glanced around the room for any signs of the demon jounin.

Ke peered out from the darkness towards the pink haired ninja when Geke appeared at his side. The demon scout hissed at Ke who sighed in return. "So even one punch from her will take me out? Well, that makes things interesting if nothing else."

"Found you!" Sakura announced as she brought her fist down on Ke's face. However, he dodged again and rolled across the floor. Coming out of the roll he crouched and barely had time to dodge her next attack.

_She's reading my movements perfectly_, he realized as she just barely missed his gut again. He jumped across the room and crouched down low. Sakura's eyes narrowed at his new stance and tried to figure out what sort of advantage Ke would have in that sort of position. But before she could figure out his strategy he lunged at her. It was suddenly Sakura's turn to dodge Ke's hits. She tried to predict his movements based on his earlier attacks but nothing was making sense. He had completely changed tactics and attacked with no rhyme or reason. Almost like...

"An animal," Sakura muttered as he latched onto her ankle. She brought her fist down to try and break his grip but he grabbed her wrist and flung her across the room. She hurtled towards the wall and she braced herself for the impact. However, Ke appeared in front of her and formed hand signs. He grabbed her arms and pulled her into the shadow on the wall.

Ke emerged on the other side of the wall still holding Sakura. He released her arms leaving her torso on the new side of the wall while her legs still kicked in her room. Sakura struggled to free herself from the wall but she couldn't do it without breaking the wood. She glared at Ke who only shrugged and put his finger to his lips. She looked at him questioningly and he pointed under Sakura's face. She looked down and flinched.

Toya slept soundly beneath her. There was no way to escape this situation without waking him up and subsequently having to explain why she was in his room in the middle of the night. And since his only impression of her so far was that of a boy crazy girl she didn't stand a chance.

"Hey, Sakura," Ke whispered as he opened the door. "Good night"

Ke closed the door behind him and Sakura struggled again to wiggle her way out of the wall. "I'm gonna kill that little-" Sakura began but immediately froze when Toya shifted in his sleep beneath her. She sighed and let her head drop, "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Ke placed a hand on Neji's door and paused. He took in a deep breath, "Two down, one to go."

Sliding the door open he jumped into the darkened room quickly and searched for traps. However, all he found was Neji blinking sleepily at him from beneath the covers. Ke cocked his head and folded his arms over his chest, "What? No trap?"

"What are you talking about?" Neji half asked, half yawned.

"You're not going to try and see my face?" Ke pointed to his porcelain mask. "You're not going to form countless shadow clones or try and beat the crap out of me? You're not even going to use your Byakugan?"

Neji just rolled his eyes before turning over and settling back into the bed.

"I just agreed to set up a trap so Naruto would leave me alone," Neji muttered as he drifted back to sleep.

"Fair enough," Ke shrugged and left.


	4. Chapter 3

Okay, I know I haven't said this before BUT if you do read my story, please, please, please review! After all, you never get better w/o criticism, right? I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

"Konohamaru," Moegi called the attention of her teammate as they wandered around Konoha. "Have you heard about the demon eggs in the forest? They say the demon that attacked you laid them."

"Does that mean more demons are going to come?" Udon asked.

"Don't worry about it," Konohamaru dismissed. "Naruto has already gone to bring help from Hikage Village."

"But I thought only demons lived in Hikage," Moegi argued.

"It doesn't matter. Naruto can defeat all those stupid demons anyway. He can take on demons, ghosts, whatever!"

But as they discussed the demon eggs in Konoha a crack appeared in one of them in the forest. Kiba's nose perked and Akamaru let out a growl.

* * *

"You guys will be fine, it's just a couple of rabbit demons," Ke assured as he stood with the Konoha bound ninja outside his house. "But just in case."

He formed summoning hand signs and thrust his hand into the grass. A small black fox with large shining black eyes emerged from the smoke and mewed.

"Kitsuke!" Rei squealed and let the fox jump up into her arms and she immedieatly began to cuddle with it. It mewed happily and rubbed its head against her cheek. Neji's eyes softened at the sight.

"Hey Neji," Naruto nudged him, "is that a look of love?"

"Shut up," he hissed and shoved his fellow Konoha ninja.

"So that's one of the fearsome demon summons of Bakemono, eh?" Gai said skeptically.

"Not all demons are sharp claws and pointy fangs ," Ke shrugged. "Even the demons back in Konoha aren't that bad. Even if they do hatch they're not that big if a deal. It'll only get bad if those six lay more eggs. Then you'll have an infestation on your hands. So just nip it in the bud."

"Thank you Bake-er, I mean Ke," Gai nodded. "I'll make sure Tsunade-sama gets an excellent report on the hospitality of Hikage village."

"Which means we'll just cut out the Ankokukage," Kakashi said as he appeared beside Ke. Ke flinched and looked at the Copy Cat Ninja, impressed.

"Hey, that was pretty good," Ke complimented.

* * *

The crack in the egg widened.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked as Kiba sniffed the air.

"A new smell, no," he frowned. "Two new smells."

"Two new smells?" Shikamaru wondered. The two red eggs behind them exploded as two black shadows jumped away. Shikamaru stared after them in shock. "They're already hatching!"

"This is not good," Kiba frowned.

"Hey!" Shikamaru called the attention of another chuunin. "Go back to the village and tell Tsunade-sama. Come on Kiba, let's go after those two."

"Right, let's go Akamaru!" Kiba and the dog jumped off after one of them and Shikamaru followed the other.

"This is turning into a big pain," Shikamaru muttered. "The Hikage ninja better be here soon."

"Ahh!" A woman screamed as she ran from the rabbit demon attacking her fruit cart. It ripped the fruit apart and destroyed the cart before moving on to the cart next door as its brother did the same a few carts down.

"Shadow bind jutsu!" Shikamaru stopped the demon in its tracks and smirked. "Gotcha you little trouble maker."

But before he could relish too much in his triumph the other rabbit demon kicked off of his back sending him into a vat of dye next to a textile cart.

"Ahh!" Shikamaru yelled in annoyance as the green dye sloshed around him.

"Don't worry," Kiba jumped down behind him with Akamaru. "We'll get them."

They jumped up after the demon and Kiba dug his nails into the ground where it stood before it jumped away. Kiba glared up it as his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Quick eh? Well I don't think you're quick enough!"

He lunged again sure he would catch the demon this time. However, he felt a tug on his jacket and found himself hurtling towards the ground. As he was flung backwards he caught a glimpse of the other demon. It had grabbed him from behind and thrown him. He had time only to grimace before he landed in a pile of manure next to the flowering cart.

"Gah!" He screamed as the putrid smells entered his super sensitive nose. Akamaru shrank from his master and his new fragrance. He turned towards the two rabbit demons with his fangs bared. He lunged upwards and the two sprang out of the way. Akamaru was hot on their trail and his jaws snapped within inches of their legs. They ran along the street full of shops with Akamaru close behind.

The saliva dripped from their mouths as the demons grew desperate. Throwing a glance at his brother the demon's eyes glinted dangerously. He jumped way from the ground and onto the wall. The demon then jumped back towards Akamaru and knocked him straight into one of the nearby shops. Akamaru went flying into the shops and over the counter crashing into the shelves of yarn. He struggled in vain to follow the demons but he was too badly tangled in the string. The demons regrouped and shared a smirk before bounding away.

* * *

"Kakashi," Gai called the other Konoha jounin away from Makeout Tactics. "Do you really think these genin can handle the demons?"

"Sometimes genin can do great things," Kakashi noted as he glanced at Naruto.

"Hey, Rin," Naruto sidled up beside her. "How long have you had the Houkou?"

"As far back as I can remember," Rin pursed her lips in thought. "Ke-sensei sealed it in me and then raised me. It's because of his training I can control the demon's chakra so well."

"I had a teacher who taught me to control my chakra too," Naruto thought of Jiraiya. "Although he was a little shady sometimes."

"Well then, maybe after all this we can put our powers to the test." Rin held up her fist. "See who's stronger."

"You're on!" Naruto pounded his own fist against hers.

_Two tailed demons in Konoha. Wonder what that's going to be like_, Kakashi thought and then remembered when the Shukaku and Naruto faced off and blanched. _I hope it's nothing like that._

* * *

"Ah!" Ebisu yelled as he lunged at the rabbit demon. He managed to get his arms around it but it easily slipped through his arms. He watched it bound away and stood up. "These ones are different than the one from before. They're weaker but they're also smaller and faster."

"What are these demons like, Rei?" Neji asked.

"Well, if they hatch they won't be nearly as bad as the one which attacked before. That one was a full grown one who had reached reproductive age. These however are newborns. They're smaller and much weaker. And if they're still just eggs they're completely harmless if you don't touch them. However, when they reach reproductive age they're much bigger and stronger. And they multiply like crazy. Oftentimes an infestation occurs. The newborns will eat up crops and damage property. They're incredibly hard to get rid of because they're quick and small. It's far easier to kill them in the egg stage or the adult stage even though it's more powerful." She explained.

"Well it's a good thing they're still in the egg stage then," Neji said.

"Two of them have hatched already?" Tsunade asked as she looked over the four remaining eggs.

"Yes Hokage-sama," the chuunin on guard reported. "They turned red then they hatched."

"Red?" Tsunade questioned and pointed to the egg furthest to the right. "Red like that one?"

"What?" The chuunin leaned down to inspect the egg. "It wasn't red earlier!"

"Does that mean it's going to hatch soon?" Shizune asked and a crack appeared in the shell. They flinched.

* * *

"Body enlargement!" Choji yelled as his grew in size. He slammed it down in an effort to catch the rabbit demon but it easily maneuvered around the large appendage. "Damn, these things are tricky!"

"Allow me, Mind meld jutsu!" She formed a circle with her hands and sent her spirit out towards on of the rabbits. However, it also dodged and Ino ended up hitting an elderly lady. The lady fell on the ground holding her head.

"Uh," Ino's voice came out of the wrinkled mouth. "What happened?"

She looked around and spotted her own unconscious body. "If I'm there, and the rabbit is there, then who did I replace?"

She glanced in a puddle and her mouth fell in horror as she began to pull at her face. "I have wrinkles!"

* * *

"Yah!" Tsunade yelled as she punched the ground and sent a mini earthquake through Konoha. However she missed as the rabbit dashed out of the way.

"Tsunade-sama please!" Shizune begged. "Try not to disturb the other eggs!"

"Well I wouldn't have to be doing this if the Hikage ninja were here!" She yelled. "Where are those-"

At that moment the rabbit jumped out of the forest and landed on Tsunade's head. It began to claw frantically at her hair pulling it out of its pig tails.

"AHH!" She screamed swatting at it. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

"Hokage-sama, please, just stand still!" The chuunin guard begged as he tried to help her but just received her blows instead.

"Tsunade-sama! You need to calm down!" Shizune tried in vain to remove the rabbit. At last Tsunade managed to grab ahold of its legs and flung it into the forest.

"Troublesome little," she muttered as she smoothed her hair back down. "Well, at least we're rid of it now."

"But you didn't kill it Tsunade-sama," Shizune pointed out. "You just flung it into the forest. It can still cause trouble, and worse lay more eggs."

"I really need to stop coming late to these parties," Kakashi voice sounded. They looked up to see him sitting in the tree above them. He held up a hand in greeting. "Hey."

"Kakashi!" Tsunade bellowed. "Where have you been?!"

"Hey, hey," he held up his hands in surrender. "There was this poor lost puppy-"

"Don't give me that-" Tsunade stopped as the Hikage genin appeared out of the woods. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to destroy your demon problem, Hokage-sama," Rin affirmed.

"So, Yue or Chiba didn't come?" Shizune's face fell.

"No, I'm sorry," Rei shook her head. "It's just us."

"But can genin handle this?" Tsunade questioned.

"They'll be more than adequate," Kakashi assured as he hoped down from the tree.

"All right then," Tsunade turned to the genin. "It's all yours."

"Right," Rin nodded and reached into her pack. She pulled out three paper strips and passed them to Toya and Rei. Each of them took a remaining egg and held the strip up to their foreheads as they concentrated their chakra. Their chakra flowed out of their bodies and burned warding symbols into the paper. They thrust the strips onto the eggs which quickly shattered into dust and blew away in the wind.

"Well, how was that?" Rin turned to Tsunade for approval.

"Good job," Tsunade nodded. "But there are three demons that have already hatched running around Konoha."

"How long ago did they hatch?" Toya asked.

"Today," Shizune said.

"Piece of cake then," Rin waved her hand in dismissal. "We'll take care of them."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled as he emerged out of the forest. His face fell at the strips of paper on the ground. "I didn't miss it, did I?"

"Yeah, but you can still help us destroy the three remaining demons, come on!" Rin waved him on and they jumped off towards Konoha.

"Naruto! Wait!" Tsunade called but he was long gone. "Troublesome little boy. He better not get in the way."

"Neji, Sakura," Rei called to the other Konoha ninja as they emerged. "Do you guys want to help us too?"

* * *

Ke played the piano steadily and with an admirable amount of skill. The notes were slow, deep, and they resonated through the house weaving together a moving and sad song as Ke sat alone in the house. His fingers stilled on the keys and he looked towards the door to the music room.

"Don't you ever play anything uplifting?" Chiba asked from the doorway.

"What are you two doing here?" Ke asked as he and Yue stepped into the room.

"Came to keep you company," Chiba explained.

"We figured since the genin are gone you might be spending too much time alone with demons. We wouldn't want you to turn into one for real, now would we?" Yue added.

"Well that was awfully considerate of you," Ke commented and glanced at the clock. "Funny how you guys showed up right before dinner."

"Well, we figured since we came all this way and braved the demons of Hikage forest to be with you. You could cook us dinner," Yue shrugged and Ke turned back to the piano.

"You know damn well the demons would never hurt you guys," Ke resumed his playing. "They know better to pull shit like that when I'm around."

"True," Chiba nodded. "But you could still cook us dinner."

* * *

"These things are so annoying!" Shikamaru groaned as he squeezed the green dye out of his vest.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he inspected his now green companion. "I thought Lee was supposed to be the green beast of Konoha."

"Shut up," Shikamaru sneered and saw Rin behind him. "What are you doing back here?"

"I'm here to help with your demon problem," she explained.

"Good, because we're in trouble with these things," Kiba came up to them and Naruto immediately plugged his nose.

"Eww! Kiba! You smell horrible!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh gee, thanks for telling me," Kiba shot back.

"Did either of you see where the demons went?" Rin asked.

"No idea," Shikamaru shook his head.

"No problem," Rin waved her hand. "I'll sniff them out."

She clasped her hands together in front of her face and closed her eyes in concentration. After a few minutes she opened her eyes. "Sorry, do you think you could go away? Your smell is really distracting."

She smiled politely at Kiba who sighed and walked away. She closed her eyes again and concentrated. Her eyes snapped open and she smiled. "Found one."

"All right, where?" Naruto held his fists up in anticipation.

"Over here, come on!" Rin ran down the street with Naruto close behind.

"Well while they're off facing those demons," Shikamaru said. "I'm going to take a shower. Uh, you probably should too, Kiba."

* * *

"That was delicious," Chiba smiled contentedly as he pushed himself away from the table.

"Seriously," Yue nodded in agreement. "I forgot how good a cook you were."

"Well, I'm just full of surprises," Ke shrugged modestly and picked up their dishes carrying them to the sink. Yue glanced around eagerly before frowing.

"Hey, where's dessert?"

"Dessert?!" Ke whirled around to face him. "You two show up here last minute demanding food and you expect me to come up with the time to make you dessert?! I'm not your freaking wife!"  
"He sure does complain like a wife," Yue whispered to Chiba who nodded and Ke reached behind him towards the sink.

"Well if that's how you feel about it!" Ke whipped out the hose from the sink and pelted his teammates with water.

"Oi! Ke!" Yue threw his hands out in front of him.

"Jeez!" Chiba turned the table over to use as a shield for him and Yue to duck down behind. "He's pissed!"

"This isn't fair! We don't have anything to fight back with!" Yue protested and Chiba nodded. But then two soda bottles from the overturned table rolled in front of them. They exchanged smiles.

Ke shut the hose off and inched towards the table to finish his friends off. However, before he could strike the final blow Yue and Chiba sprung up shaking the soda bottles and uncapped them letting the sugary drinks spray all over Ke.

Ke sputtered as he ran from them away from the sink and his water source. Yue and Chiba recapped the bottles and ran after him. Ke bounded through the halls with the other two close behind bandishing their soda bottles. However, by the time they had reached the greenhouse Yue and Chiba had lost sight of Ke. They crept through the plants carefully keeping close to each other and their eyes sharp for any signs of movement.

Yue saw a twitch in the corner of his eye but only managed to pelt an innocent fern with soda. Chiba sighed, "Dammit, where did he go?"

Suddenly, they both felt a tug on their ankles and immediately fell to the floor. Yue looked down in alarm as he and Chiba moved across the ground. A vine had latched onto their feet and was currently dragging them towards a plant's gaping mouth.

"Oh shit!" Yue yelled.

"Ke!" Chiba cried in alarm. "Stop it! This isn't funny anymore!"

However, Ke didn't respond and the plant continued to drag them towards it. They were within feet of it when Chiba closed his eyes preparing to take the hit. However, instead of clamping its jaws down on the two jounin the plant let out a loud belch.

"Jeez!" Yue fanned the stench away from his face. "What the hell are you feeding these things Ke?!"

* * *

"There it is!" Naruto announced and pulled out his kunei. He threw it down but the rabbit easily dodged it. "Damn, it's fast."

"I got it," Rin smiled at him. "Let me take care of this."

She exhaled as she watched the rabbit. It bared its fangs and she bared her own as her pupils narrowed into slits. She lunged at the rabbit who hopped away but as it was in midair she appeared behind it. She grabbed its hind legs and sent it hurtling back towards the ground. It landed hard and stood up shakily. But before it get a second wind she had appeared in front of it and landed a punch straight in the face. It flew backwards and crashed into the wall. Rin ran towards it to finish it off. It shook his head and stared maliciously at her. It inhaled deeply and let a stream of fire shoot from its mouth putting a barrier of fire between them.

"Rin!" Naruto yelled in concern but she skidded to a stop right before the barrier. He exhaled a sigh of relief. "She's safe, but how is she going to beat the demon now?"

The demon snarled in triumph at Rin but she merely smirked in return. She held out her index finger with her thumb up. A small ball of chakra focused at the end of her finger and slowly grew to the size of a golf ball. She smiled devilishly, "Bang."

The ball shot out in a beam towards the demon and pierced it through the heart. It crumbled into dust.

"Whoa," Naruto commented as the flames died down. "That was pure chakra."

* * *

It munched calmly on the cabbages as the cart owner looked on in horror. He tried to approach it with a raised stick but was easily intimidated by the creature's glowing eyes. After assuring he was gone, the demon went back to the cabbages. But what he didn't ascertain was the absence of Sakura.

"Hyah!" She screamed as the cart splintered beneath her fist. The demon nimbly dodged and landed facing her. It bared its fangs and its fur bristled but Sakura was undisturbed. Pulling out her gloves she fitted them on her hands and smiled. It had been long enough since she had a good fight. She tensed right before launching herself towards the demon. Pulling her fist back she concentrated her chakra into her hand and was ready to land the first and final hit. But before she could the demon sneezed.

"Eww!" She screamed as the mucas dripped over her body sealing her to the ground. She tried to move her arms and legs but it was no use she was stuck. The demon's eyes narrowed dangerously and for a split second Sakura forgot about the mucas. She closed her eyes and cringed, waiting for the blow. She heard the thud of its paws on the ground coming towards her. It was less than a foot away now. Any second she would feel its sharp claws and fangs tearing into her flesh. Any second.

She slowly opened her eyes when the pain and blood didn't come. She saw Toya's back. He had jumped in front and was currently holding the demon at bay by having shoved his katana into the demon's mouth. The demon gnashed violently as its saliva dripped over the sword and its teeth slid across the smooth metal. Toya gave a heave throwing the creature off of the sword and reaffirmed his stance.

It staggered backwards clenching its mouth as blood and saliva dripped from it. It glared at him and he smirked back. Lunging forward he thrust with his sword which it dodged. He took another step forward and brought his katana around in a horizontal swipe cutting the beast across its front arm. It reared back in pain and limped away, putting some distance between the two. Toya fell back into his stance and smirked again.

He ran forward and cut into the beast's shoulder with a downward swipe. The beast howled again and stumbled. But now Toya was in close proximity to the beast. It opened his jaws wide and prepared to clamp down on his head. But Toya pulled out his wakizashi and again shoved one of his blades into the beast's mouth. It clamped down hard on the blade in order to avoid the sharp edge reaching its soft flesh. Toya smirked.

He concentrated his chakra into the blade and it glowed a cool blue extending the width of the blade about 2 cm at most. The chakra blade began to vibrate and moved back and forth in a sawing action cutting through the fangs as Toya forced the blade through the beast. It fell into two halves at his feet before crumbling into dust.

Sheathing both blades Toya turned back to Sakura.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she nodded with starry eyes.

* * *

"There," Neji whispered to Rei as they hid in the shadows of the rooftops. His face was strained with the vision of his byakugan as he spotted the demon in a restaurant. "The place is completely cleared of people as well. That thing probably scared them all away."

"Good, then I don't have to be too careful," Rei stepped onto the ledge and jumped down to the street. The beast was too busy to notice her silent and nimble landing behind it. It was drinking from a large pot or water as she held her fingers up to her face, concentrating. Without warning tendrils of water shot out from the pot and wrapped around the demon pulling it into the pot. It struggled against the water ropes to avoid drowing but Rei gritted her teeth and concentrated. Finally it flailed enough to turn the pot over on itself and the water spilled out onto the floor letting oxygen reach the creature.

"Dammit!" Rei cursed as the beast bounded out of the restaurant. She quickly ran out behind it and slammed a foot down onto the ground. A piece of cobblestone flew up at the stamp of her foot and she thrust her hand forward. As her hand moved towards the stone it dissolved into sand and flew towards the demon ensnaring it again. The demon struggled against the earth as it wrapped around its limbs and was slowly stretching it to breaking. Rei frowned and stamped her foot again turning the cobblestone beneath the creature to sand and its paws sank into the earth. The stone solidified again and the demon struggled against its new bonds.

Rei glanced around and spotted the still burning stove in the restaurant. She held out a hand to the flames and they shot towards her. Neji tensed as he saw the fire rapidly approach her. But with a graceful movement of her arms it circled around her before shooting forward and encasing the demon. It howled in pain before it burnt to a crisp.

Neji jumped down beside her and looked at her with slight wonder. She blushed at his gaze and turned away smiling. He thought, _Her skill with sand is like Gaara's. Could she really have that much control?_

* * *

"Well," Tsunade smiled warmly at the three Hikage genin before her. "I must say you three did an excellent job. You rid the village of those demons quickly and cleanly. And your behavior has greatly improved my impression of Hikage Village."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Rin bowed and the other two followed suit.

"Now, before you leave and go back to Hikage I hope you spend a little time here in Konoha so we can show you how hospitable we can be."

"It would be an honor," Rin smiled brightly before leaving with Toya and Rei.

"Well," Tsunade turned to Shizune. "Those three seemed likable enough. Although I would have preferred Yue or Chiba, they weren't that big of a disappointment."

"At least Bakemono didn't come," Shizune pointed out.

* * *

Chiba leaned his hands on the window sill and looked acroos the meadow towards the dark and gnarled forest. He could feel the demonic energy emanating from the trees and surpressed his shudder.

"Dinner's up," Ke announced and put a few dishes on the table. Chiba joined him and Yue at the table.

"What were you staring at over there?" Yue motioned to the window with his chopstick.

"The forest," Chiba explained. "I could never live here like you Ke. It's far too dangerous."

"It'd be more dangerous for the kids to live in the village," Ke argued and began to serve them food.

"Yeah," Chiba frowned. "I guess it is better for them to live away from it all."

"Yeah, but it's only temporary." Ke shrugged. "When you become Ankokukage you'll change things and they can move back to the village."

"What about you?" Yue asked. "Aren't you going to move to the village too?"

"I thought we were trying to make the village safer? Having a monster there isn't very productive," Ke shrugged and Yue took a swing at him. Ke ducked easily and glanced over at the serious expression on Chiba's face. "What's wrong?"

"What if I can't become Ankokukage?" Chiba asked.

"What are you talking about? Of course you're going to be Ankokukage."

"What if I'm not strong enough?" Chiba's frown deepened. "What if I can't change things?"

Ke looked at the ground in silence and Yue frowned.

"You can," Yue assured. "Ke and I will help you become Ankokukage."

"We'll always be there for you Chiba," Ke added. "You know that."

"Besides, your father hasn't really left much choice in the matter. He won't make me one, and there's no way in hell a monster could ever become Ankokukage."

"Hey!" Ke protested and flung food at Yue's face. Yue retaliated and flung his bowl of noodles. Ke used his bowl to catch the noodles and attempted to fling them back at Yue. But Yue was quick and had already thrown a chopstick hitting Ke's arm and redirecting the noodles into Chiba's face. Chiba wiped the sticky strings off of his face and glared at his companions.

"Oh shit," Ke muttered. "Chiba's pissed. That never happens."

He answered with a flurry of rice balls and even dumped out the water on his friends.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Rin's voice demanded. The three jounin stopped in their escapades to notice the genin had returned.

"We leave you alone for one week, and this is what happens?" Toya crossed his arms.

"Well you three are just going to have to clean up this mess and go to bed without any dessert," Rei determined.

"Oh I got your dessert," Ke said and flung a plate of cakes at the genin.


	5. Chapter 4

Neji stepped side to side as he dodged Tenten's punches. She crouched down and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. He jumped over her effectively evading the attack and turned to follow up. However, she had managed to come at him from behind and landed two punches on his back before he was able to roll away.

He knelt before her and his eyes narrowed into the Byakugan. Lee's eyes narrowed as well. "He's never had to use the Byakugan this early in a battle with Tenten," Lee noted.

"Hey Neji," Tenten smiled devilishly. "When was the last time you heard from your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Neji immediately stood up flustered and Tenten swept his feet out from under him.

"You have a girlfriend?" Lee asked and Neji sat up angrily.

"No!" His eyes flashed dangerously. "I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Good for you!" Lee pumped his fist into the air. "Having loved ones only makes us strong! It motivates us to be better ninjas so we can protect them! Smart move Neji!"

Neji frowned at his comrade's excitement as Tenten giggled. He looked away in thought, it had been about a month since he had seen Rei.

* * *

Two clawed hands pulled the gopher demon out of the ground as it sniffed the air suspiciously. Satsified it hauled its entire body out of its hole and snuffed around in the ground for its next meal. It shuffled through the tall grass on the very outskirts of Ankoku Country as its nose remained close to the ground. He nosed aside rocks and sand in a tireless search. But he suddenly froze. He nose had picked up chakra, and lots of it.

Scurrying to the nearest pile of rocks he clumsily scaled them to see where the chakra was. He scanned the horizon and saw two cloaked figures moving casually through the grass. He watched the black skies littered with red clouds move slowly through the field and shivered as their auras went through him.

* * *

_Pain racked Ke's body as the shocks went through him. He fell forward and fogged the cold metal floor beneath him with his hot and rapid breath. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the pale feet step in front of him. He struggled to raise himself and pressed his tiny hands against the floor pushing himself up._

_Orochimaru smirked as he gazed down at Ke, hands folded behind his back._

_"Well, your pain tolerance seems to be a bit low," he pulled his hand out from his back revealing a kunei. "I'll have to work on that."_

_Pulling Ke up on his feet Orochimaru strapped him to the wall and stepped back. Tapping the kunei against his mouth he looked at Ke thoughtfully. "Now, where shall we begin? Ah, here's a good a spot."_

_Orochimaru stepped forward and thrust the kunei into Ke's stomach. He choked on his own cry, refusing to scream. Orochimaru's smile widened as he dragged the kunei through Ke's midsection tearing his soft, young, flesh._

"Ke-sama!"

Ke jerked awake at the sound of his name. He looked around wildly and his heartbeat slowed as his own living room came into focus. He must have dozed off.

"Ke-sama!" He heard his name again and felt a pressure against his chest. He looked down to see Hake gripping the material of his shirt in his tiny little paws. "Ke-sama!"  
"Hake?" Ke held the panicked demon and rubbed his head affectionately. "Calm down, what's wrong?"

"Bad news sir," Hake blinked his large black eyes up at his master. "One of the demon scouts on the outskirts of Ankoku Country has seen something very bad."

* * *

"Exile?!" Ke demanded as his fists came down hard upon the Ankokukage's desk. "You can't be serious!"

"It's in the best interest of Hikage," the Ankokukage leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers before his face. "Having the Houkou here is just asking for Akatsuki to come and destroy us all."

"We're surrounded by an impenetrable forest full of demons! No one will be able to enter that forest without me knowing! No one can even set foot inside this country without me knowing! And furthermore no one will get through that village without the demons eating them!" Ke yelled. "Why don't we envoke our treaty with Konoha?! They have the forces to help us!"

"I have no interest in asking for help from others. It will only show we're weak."

"You never planned on invoking that treaty to protect Rin," Ke realized. "She was just an excuse. You made it for your own interests, didn't you?"

The Ankokukage paused before continuing.

"I'm not willing to risk the well being of my entire village for one stupid little girl," the Ankokukage stood firm.

"Your village? You mean the village you've ignored, stole from, and essentially run into poverty?! Do you realize how many of your people are starving and dying?! They're better off if Akatsuki comes and puts them out of their misery!"

"Those who are too weak to survive should not be allowed to live. My interest is in preserving the strong in order to make this village stronger. Trying to save one weak little girl is only a waste of time."

"You-" Ke took a step forward but Yue was behind in a flash. He grabbed him around the arms and dragged him out of the room. Ke struggled with his fellow jounin but he managed to shove Ke up against the wall and held him there. Yue stared hard at Ke until his breathing came under control and he relaxed under his grip. Yue's hands loosened slightly and Ke shoved them off of him.

"I'm fine," Ke snapped and Yue grabbed his arm again and began to lead him down the hall.

"We need to take a walk," Yue said sternly.

* * *

Ke stood with his arms crossed at the edge of Hikage forest. The cliff elevated him enough to see the entirety of the dingy village he had called home for the last eighteen years. He sensed Chiba and Yue come out of the woods behind him. Sticking his hands in his pockets he absently kicked a rock off of the cliff.

"I won't banish Rin," he said without turning around to face his fellow jounin. "I'll take her and leave Hikage Village. Yue, Chiba, please look after Rei and Toya for me."

"Do you really think they'll stay behind without you and Rin?" Chiba asked raising an eyebrow and Ke bowed his head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ke sighed. "Then we'll all be leaving."

"On the bright side you'll never have to see the Ankokukage again," Yue pointed out.

"Yeah," Ke nodded then turned to face them. "But I'll probably never see you two again either."

"Aw," Yue smiled. "How human of you."

"Shut up," Ke shoved Yue who laughed. Chiba stepped forward and clasped Ke's hand. He pulled him into a one armed hug and squeezed tight. Yue came up and exchanged a hug with Ke as well.

* * *

Kakashi rested comfortably on his bed as he flipped through the pages of the special edition of Makeout Tactics Ke had lent him. "Ah, I see. It really does make a difference when Jiraiya explains what he intended for each scene."

"Kakashi!" Hake yelled before dropping into Kakashi's lap. The Konoha blinked at the raccoon demon in surprise.

"Hake? What are you doing here?"

"Ke didn't tell me to come but I had to tell you!" Hake grabbed onto the jounin's vest and shook him. "I just had to! I had to!"

"Had to tell me WHAT?!" Kakashi yanked the demon off of him and held him at arm's distance.

"Akatsuki was spotted in the Country of Darkness so the Ankokukage banished Rin from Hikage in order to protect the village. But Ke, Toya, and Rei refused to let her leave alone. So they all left the village together. And now they're out there in the wild with Akatsuki after them!" The demon wailed as fat drops came to his eyes and dropped onto Kakashi's bedspread.

"The Ankokukage really is an idiot," Kakashi muttered angrily as he got up and headed out to Tsunade's office.

* * *

"That, that little," Tsunade gritted her teeth as her fists tightened. Kakashi stood before her, equally upset. "That stupid little man!"

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune spoke up. "We can't just leave them out there on their own."

"Yes, I know," Tsunade's fists relaxed as she assessed the situation. "We can't afford for Akatsuki to get one more tailed demon. And we certainly cannot allow them to capture one of Konoha's allies. I will send two teams out. One to Hikage Village to gather information and the other to search the Country of Darkness for them. We won't let them do this on their own.

"Kakashi! You, Naruto, and Neji are to go to Hikage Village. Do not let the Ankokukage know that we plan on helping Ke on the genin. Just say you were on a mission and stopped for supplies."

"Understood," Kakashi nodded.

"Shizune! Assemble Gai, Lee, and Shikamaru. They are to search the Country of Darkness for them."

"Yes Tsunade-sama," Shizune nodded and left with Kakashi. Tsunade leaned back and sighed.

"I hope we find them before Akatsuki does," she whispered.

* * *

Rin sat in front of the fire; legs sprawled out in front of her and her face turned away from the fire towards the ground.

"You all didn't have to come," she spoke to her teammates. "You should have stayed behind in Hikage."

"I only stayed in Hikage for three reasons," Toya interrupted as he fingered the netsuke on his weapons. "With you gone, I'd only have two."

"Rin," Rei reached over and held her hand. "We would have never been happy there without you."

Rin smiled at her comrades.

"Dinner time," Ke announced as he appeared at the entrance to the cave they had chosen to spend the night. He pulled fresh fruit and nuts from his pack along with a small dead bird.

"Did you find anything else about Akatsuki's position?" Rin asked and Ke looked up from the food.

"They're still heading towards Hikage," he informed. "We moved too quickly and too silently for them to realize we're not there anymore."

"I doubt they expected us to spot them so quickly," Toya said and Ke shrugged.

"They should have known that no one sets foot inside the Country of Darkness without me knowing." Ke shrugged and eased himself onto the ground. He began to cut the fruit. "And I guess they underestimated how big of a bastard the Ankokukage is. They probably didn't expect him to exile Rin. But once they find out she's not there, they won't stick around for long."

* * *

Red clouds moved steadily through the woods and approached the cliff where Ke had stood just days before. Perched upon the cliff was another, brooding under a straw hat.

"The Houkou is no longer there," the approaching clouds informed. "But it appears the Kyuubi is on its way."

"Ah," the other nodded. "That one is not ours."

"Yeah," his partner agreed. "So, where is ours?"

* * *

Naruto looked around Hikage forest as he turned slightly green. He flinched when he saw a vine move and moved closer to Kakashi and Neji. Hake looked up from where he plodded beside them.

"Don't worry," he assured. "The demons won't harm you as long as I'm with you."

"What? Are you going to protect us?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"No," Hake defended. "But the demons of this forest know I'm in contract with Ke-sama. They wouldn't dare attack one of his summons."

"Huh?" Naruto folded his arms behind his head in thought. "This Ke character must be pretty powerful if he can beat all the demons in this forest."

"Well," Hake tilted his head. "Ke-sama cannot defeat _all _the demons, just most of them. There are a few demons he is nowhere near as powerful."

"Like what?"

"Well, there was the Houkou for one. Ke-sama needed to seal that demon within Rin to control it."

"The Houkou lived in this forest?"

"Oh yes," Hake nodded. "All nine of the tailed demons came from this country. The country of Darkness does not get its name because the sun never shines. It gets its name because of its dark demonic aura due to the demons which once ruled it. Over time, ninja began to slowly conquer the land and kill the demons driving them back into remote areas like the mountains and this forest. However, some demons just left the country, like the tailed ones."

"So, all of the demons once lived here?" Naruto paused. "Even…"

"Yes," Hake nodded. "Even the Kyuubi."

"Ah," Naruto looked down in thought.

"So if there are demons as powerful as the Kyuubi, what is Ke's protection going to do for us?" Neji asked.

"There is no demon more powerful than the Kyuubi. There is no force left which could match its destructive power," Hake corrected and Naruto looked away. "The Houkou was the most powerful demon left in Hikage forest until Ke sealed it away. Now, the most powerful demon is in contract with Ke so he will not hurt us."

"Contract with Ke?" Kakashi's interest was piqued. "How did Ke enter into a contract with a demon more powerful than him?"

"I don't know, I'm just a simple raccoon demon," Hake shrugged and Kakashi's eyes frowned.

* * *

Shikamaru knelt down and touched the broken blades of grass. "Jeez, it took them long enough to leave behind a clue. I think I finally found their trail."

"Well now we're cracking!" Gai's eyes were aflame.

"That is right Gai-sensei!" Lee pumped his fist into the air. "We shall soon find them and bring them back to safety and warmth of Konoha!"  
"It's a real shame, you know Lee?" Gai turned to him, somber. "For those poor kids to have been thrown out by their own Ankokukage. Without a home or refuge! I bet they have yet to experience the beauty of the springtime of youth!"

"But we shall save them from their misery!" Lee's fist tightened in front of his face.

"That's right! In Konoha they can let their youth blossom!" Gai clasped his hand upon and Lee's shoulder who had fire in his eyes now too.

Shikamaru frowned at them. "Of all the ones I had to be paired up with I had to get them."

* * *

Kitsuke blinked her large black eyes at the three Konoha ninja before bounding away. She ran lightly through the tall grass and skipped along branches and rocks before coming across Ke who was waiting for her in a tree. She jumped up into his lap and he scratched under the demon's chin. Kitsuke purred and closed her eyes in pleasure.

"So, the Konoha ninja are here eh?" Ke cocked his head. "I should have given them more credit."

* * *

"Hey," Kakashi called Neji and Naruto's attention. "Before we leave Hikage forest and enter the village, remove all of your Konoha affiliations."

"What? Why?" Naruto frowned.

"We're not supposed to be helping Ke and the others," Kakashi reminded and pulled his headband off, revealing his scarred eye. "If we're caught it's better not to let anyone know we're Konoha ninja."

Neji nodded and removed his own headband. Naruto frowned as he slid his off his forehead and packed it away. It just didn't feel right to sneak around like this. They should be helping the Hikage ninjas. They shouldn't have to hide that.

"Well, now that we're at the edge of the forest," Hake called their attention. "I'll just wait here for you to come back."

"You're not coming to the Village with us?" Naruto blinked in surprise and Hake waved his hands frantically.

"I would never go in there! Are you crazy?! I'll stay in the forest, thank you," he said before turning around and dashing back into the woods.

"That's reassuring," Naruto muttered before they left the forest. "This place must be pretty bad if he wants to stay in the forest full of demons."

The village loomed before them with high stone walls which were cracked and badly in need of repair. The walls encircled the entire village and blocked it entirely from view. However, the entrance gate had no door. Instead it was a gap in the wall with two high columns which framed it.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called. "Why don't they have a gate? Aren't they afraid of the demons?"

"I think those will take care of any demons," Kakashi pointed up towards the tops of the columns. Atop each column was a small ofuda with warding seals. Naruto winced as he looked at the seals. He felt as if they stared down deep into him and could see the Kyuubi within in. He clutched at a sudden strain in his chest as they passed through the gate.

Hikage Village was just as dilapidated as the great wall which surrounded it. However, it did not even have the girth and height of the wall to impress anyone. The streets were broken and littered with trash. The buildings were cramped together with broken windows and locked doors. They seemed to be pushing upon each other just to get air to breathe. However, in the center of the village was another wall. It was not as wide or tall as the one which surrounded the village but just as defensive. Beyond it stood four splendid buildings which contrasted sharply with the dilapidation surrounding them. They dominated the smaller shacks which Naruto and the others were currently walking through. Naruto noticed the symbol for the Country of Darkness emblazoned on the central building.

"Kakashi-sensei, are we going to go see the Ankokukage?" He asked.

"He won't be able to help us," Kakashi answered and turned to face Naruto and Neji. "We should try and find information from civilians. We'll split up. You and Neji try and find out if there is anyone who knew any of the genin or Ke. Also see if you can find Yue or Chiba. But be discreet about it. We can't let anyone know we're here to help them."

"Right," Naruto said and Neji nodded. Kakashi saluted before heading off on his own.

"Come on," Neji waved Naruto into an alley where a group of four Hikage ninja were playing dice. "And let me do the talking."

"Hey, check it out," a brown haired one motioned towarded the approaching Konoha ninja.

"Come to play?" A man with large bags under his eyes asked.

"Sure," Neji spoke up and the brunette threw the dice at him quickly. Neji caught them easily before they struck him in the eye.

"Nice reflexes," a blond man commented. "You a ninja?"

"No," Neji shook the dice in his hand. "Just a traveler. Odds."

He threw the dice and they came up seven.

"Ah, beginner's luck," the last one dismissed and looked over at Naruto. "Hey, you wanna play?"

"No, he doesn't gamble," Neji answered for Naruto who frowned.

"So what brings you all to Hikage?" The brunette gathered the dice. "It's not exactly the hottest tourist attraction."

"Just passing by," Neji shrugged. "Besides, we've heard some interesting things about the village."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"The Houkou resides here, doesn't it?" Neji asked keeping his nonchalant attitude. "I'd love to see that."

"Good luck!" The under eye circles laughed. "Ah the Houkou, that thing was a bitch when it lived in the forest."

"Yeah, made it impossible for anyone to get through," the blonde nodded. "We had to go through the mountains which weren't exactly a walk in the park."

"Good thing the freak rid us of it," the last one noted and Neji's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Freak?" He asked and the brunette looked up at him.

"Don't tell me you've heard of the Houkou and not the legendary Bakemono?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, yes. I have heard of him."

"Yeah, Bakemono," the blond shook his head. "He sealed the Houkou up in some orphan girl about fifteen years ago. Then he took the girl into the woods and raised her."

"Raised her to be a ninja!" The last one corrected and they burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Naruto frowned.

"She's a girl," the brunette answered. "As if she could ever be a real ninja. Bakemono is just wasting his time trying to make her into a ninja."

"I dunno," the blond's mouth formed a peverted smile. "I wouldn't mind being all alone in the woods with her. Have you seen her lately? She's grown up into something mighty fine."

"Forget her, have you seen the other girl that monster has up in the woods? Rei? She's got a tight little body, now doesn't she?" the dark eyed man matched his peverted smile.

"That's not a very nice way to speak about a lady," Neji said his words slowly and carefully. Naruto looked down at his hand which had balled into a fist and his knuckles were even whiter than his fair skin.

"Lady?" The last one asked incredulously. "Rei is no lady! She's the daughter of a prostitute! She was born a whore and if it wasn't for Bakemono would be one right now. Her mother is still one after all."

"She's, she's a prostitute?" Naruto's voice was soft.

"One of the best," the brunette smiled knowingly and Naruto's fists matched Neji's.

"Yeah, but you know you can't get close to either of those girls without going through the boy first," the brunette pointed out and the others lost their perverted smiles.

"I would not want to come across him in a dark alley," the dark eyed man shook his head and looked at Neji and Naruto. "There's one more ninja Bakemono took in, Toya Gyouan. He was one of the last members of one of the three founding clans in Hikage. He was destined to be a great swordsman and one of our best ninjas just like his father."

"Well, what happened?" Naruto asked.

"He turned out to be insane!" The blond interrupted. "He went crazy one night when he was five years old and murdered his father with the very katana blade wielded by his clan for generations!"

Naruto saw the black sheathed katana with the netsuke in his mind before returning to the seedy alley. "He, he killed his father?"

"Yeah," the brunette shook his head. "The Ankokukage took pity upon him because he was so young and the last member of the clan since his father had died. But then he got so out of hand even the Ankokukage couldn't handle him. So Bakemono took him in. If anything he's even crazier right now because of that monster."

"Where are they now?" Neji asked.

"Now?" The last one wrinkled his brow and shrugged. "Dunno, the Ankokukage couldn't take it anymore and finally banished them. Haven't seen any of them since."

"Do you know where they might have gone?" Naruto asked.

"No, of course not. We don't know anything about those four. They live in that forest full of demons. As far as we know they could have turned into demons by now. And in that case, good riddance!"

"I dunno," the perverted smile returned to the blond's face. "Wouldn't have minded if the girls stayed around."

"We're leaving now," Neji said through gritted teeth and left the alley abruptly practically dragging Naruto behind him.

"Ah!" Naruto punched the ground hard and cracked the pavement. "I should have kicked their perverted little asses! I can't believe you pulled me out of there! Neji?! Are you even listening to…"

Naruto trailed off when he faced Neji. He stood with his back to Naruto and his fists tightly clenched. "Don't talk to me right now, Naruto."

"Well you two looked cheery," Kakashi noted as he came upon the two. Naruto and Neji glared at him and he faltered. "Hey, hey, what happened?"

"Hikage ninjas are bastards, that's what happened!" Naruto yelled. "They're perverted sons of bitches! If I only met them outside of this mission I'd beat the shit out of every single one of them! I don't understand how ninjas like Rei, Rin, and Toya even came out of this screwed up little town!"

Kakashi's eyebrows lowered as he watched his former pupil storm about in front of him. He wanted to get Naruto out of this town as soon as possible.

"Rin's an orphan," Neji spoke up quietly without turning around. "She has been raised by Ke since birth when he sealed the Houkou in her. Toya killed his father when he was five and was taken in by Ke after that."

"What about Rei?" Kakashi asked and Neji paused.

"We didn't find out anything about her," Neji's voice was even softer and Naruto's expression saddened.

"Did you find anything about their whereabouts now?" Kakashi asked.

"After Ke took them into the woods it seemed as if they lost all contact with the village," Neji turned around, his face hard.

"Did you find Yue or Chiba?" Naruto asked and Kakashi shook his head.

"No, it seems both of them are away on missions. Since they're the only remaining jounin left in Hikage they're pretty busy and rarely ever here anymore. Our best bet to find the genin now is to rely on Gai's team."

"Oh yeah," Naruto frowned. "He's so reliable."

* * *

"Ahh!" Shikamaru stood up in frustration. "This trail is just leading us in circles!"

"They Hikage ninja probably left it on purpose to throw Akatsuki off their trail," Gai announced and Lee nodded.

"Well, yeah," Shikamaru muttered. "This would be a lot easier if we had Neji or Hinata's byakugan, or even Kiba's nose."

"We can't give up Shikamaru!" Gai put his hand upon Shikamaru's shoulder who frowned. "We must keep working and believing!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee agreed. "If we just work hard enough we will find the Hikage ninja!"

"Or they could just find you," Ke shrugged as he appeared behind them.

* * *

"Well that was a waste of a trip," Naruto muttered as Konoha's gates came into view.

"We did get some information," Kakashi disagreed.

"Toya's not a murderer!" Naruto yelled and Kakashi paused. "I don't care what those stupid ninjas said! He wouldn't do anything like that!"

"Without reason," Kakashi corrected.

"What?"

"He may not be a cold blooded murderer, but he may still be a killer. Killing is an inevitable part of being a ninja," Kakashi said as they entered into Konoha and Naruto frowned deeply.

"Hey, Kakashi!" Izumo called from the entrance. Kakashi raised his hand in salute and left Neji and Naruto.

"Go home and get some rest you two," he told them. Neji left silently and Naruto followed slowly.

"How was the mission?" Kotetsu asked and Kakashi shrugged.

"Not as useful as I had hoped, we didn't get any leads on the Hikage ninja." Kakashi informed.

"Well then it's a good think Gai's team succeeded. They found them and returned earlier today," Izumo said.

"Where are they?" Kakashi demanded.

* * *

"Come in!" Tsunade called and the door to her office opened slowly. Ke's mask appeared. "Ah, I was wondering when you would show up here. Are you and the genin safe now?"

"Yes, thank you," Ke said and approached her desk. Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Hokage-sama," Ke began. "I appreciate the fact that Konoha has taken us in, I really do. But Akatsuki will come to attack you all if Rin stays here."

"We've been in that situation before and we know how to handle it," Tsunade dismissed. "Besides there are certain advantages to keeping you all here in Konoha."

"Like how it'll piss the Ankokukage off? And how it's better that Akatsuki doesn't get one more demon?" Ke asked.

"Well yes," Tsunade shrugged. "But also because I've taken a liking to your genin and so have a few other Konoha ninja. And it seems that Kakashi trusts you, which is enough for me."

"Oh," Ke was more than surprised and Tsunade smiled. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"However," Tsunade leaned forward. "Kakashi has just handed in his report on his retrieval mission and I have a few questions about you. And I must insist you answer them if you wish to stay in Konoha."

"Yeah, sure," Ke agreed.

"Well, about Orochimaru," Tsunade paused when Ke stiffened at the mention of her former comrade. "Is it true you're the lone survivor of an experiment Orochimaru was hired to perform for Hikage village in order to create stronger ninjas?"

"Yes," Ke nodded.

"Is it true Orochimaru abandoned the experiments and tried to kill you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He asked for a payment the Ankokukage wasn't willing to give."

"And what was that?"

"Yue."

"What?"

"Orochimaru wanted Yue for some reason and the Ankokukage refused."

"I see," Tsunade leaned back seeing how Yue's natural talents for genjutsu would have made him the perfect candidate for one of Orochimaru's vessels. "I'm surprised he cared about another human being that much."

"He didn't," Ke corrected. "After the war with the Sand ninja Yue was the last survivor of his clan. Since his clan was one of the three founding clans and one of the three strongest clans of Hikage the Ankokukage refused to give him up. Same reason why he favors Toya so much. His only concern is making the village stronger. Which is why he hired Orochimaru in the first place."

"Hmm," Tsunade frowned. "So, after you fled from Orochimaru the Ankokukage found you in the forest and made you a genin?"

"Sure, close enough," Ke shrugged and her frown deepened.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi opened the door and interrupted. "Sorry, but I have a few questions of my own for Ke. It's about the Hikage genin."

* * *

"What is taking so long?" Rin whined as she and the other Hikage genin waited in the hall outside Tsunade's office.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Rei looked towards the door.

"Isn't it obvious?" Toya asked. "They're talking about us."

"But Gai-sensei said Konoha wanted to take us in," Rei disputed.

"But imagine the risk they're taking, they're endangering everyone here because of me," Rin sighed.

"Hey, you're not the only demon in Konoha," Naruto said cheerfully as he walked towards them.

"Naruto," Rin smiled.

"Hey, Neji! Found them!" Naruto called and Neji appeared shortly.

"I heard you guys went all the way to Hikage to try and find us," Rin said. "I'm sure you had an interesting trip."

"Yeah," Naruto looked at the ground.

"What?" Rei frowned as she looked from him to Neji's silent demeanor. "What's wrong?"

"Well," Naruto began as he recalled the things the Hikage ninjas had said.

"It's nothing," Neji cut him off. "We're just glad you all are safe."

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and a smile returned to his face.

* * *

"I am willing to answer any question about myself," Ke informed. "But it's not my place to answer anything about the genin. Nor is it your place to ask, Kakashi."

"I apologize," Kakashi bowed his head slightly but Tsunade frowned.

"But it is my place to ask," she interrupted and Ke's fists tightened slightly.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly.

"According to the report Kakashi has given to me," Tsunade paged through the file. "Rin is an orphan who you've raised since you sealed the Houkou in her, correct?"

"Yes."

"And Rei's only known family is..." Tsunade paused as she read over the file.

"A prostitute," Ke finished flatly and Tsunade looked at him apologetically.

"Right," Tsunade said softly before continuing. "Toya came to you when he was ten because the Ankokukage could not handle him. Before that he…killed his father?!"

Tsunade looked up at Ke in alarm who merely shrugged.

"How old was he?" She demanded.

"Five."

"Five-years-old?! Surely it was on accident!"

"No," Ke shook his head. "Toya definitely stabbed him with his own katana on purpose."

"Why?"

"He deserved it," Ke shrugged and Tsunade frowned deeply at the cryptic answer. Ke crossed his arms. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, it's not my place to tell you. If you really want to know you will have to ask Toya himself."

"Fine," Tsunade sighed pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation. "This certainly changes a few things."

"Hokage-sama," Ke faced her. "Yes, the genin have somewhat sordid pasts. But one: they had nothing to do with any of it, I assure you of that. Rin didn't ask for the Houkou, Rei didn't ask for a whore for a mother, and Toya didn't ask for a bastard for a father. And two: it's their past, not their present, and certainly not their future. They have worked so hard to put it all behind them. Please, do not hold them accountable for things out of their control."

"Hmm," Tsunade leaned upon her folded hands. "I'll accept that, for now. I will eventually need some real answers. But I'll let the genin tell me in their own time."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Ke bowed.

* * *

Red clouds flickered into existence in the darkened cave as the Akatsuki members gathered together.

"It appears two of the remaining tailed demons are in Konoha," the leader spoke. "Itachi, Kisame. The Kyuubi and Konoha are your territory. Care to take care of this?"

Itachi nodded.

* * *

"Jeez Toya," Rin grunted as she let a box drop to the floor. "For a boy you sure do have a lot of crap. Did you really need to bring all of your instruments?"

"Hey," Toya paused in his own unpacking. "I left Hikage just for you so stop your complaining."

"It was really nice for Hokage-sama to give us these apartments like this," Rei commented.

"Yeah," Toya said absently as he pulled out his katana and flung it to the floor carelessly. It clattered against the wood and slid to Rei's feet.

"You know," she said picking it up. "You should take better care of this, despite who it belonged to before you."

"I don't care about that scrap of metal," Toya sneered at the blade and pulled out a small polished wood box. Opening it he ran his fingers over the four netuskes he had inside. He took his blade from Rei and fastened the tokens to the hilt. "These are the important things."

Rin and Rei exchanged smiles.

"Whoa," Rin peered out of the window. "It's already dark. I wonder if it's taking Ke-sensei this long to unpack."

* * *

_Ke sat at the bottom of the water tank. The ice cold water surrounded him and permeated his every pore chilling him through and numbed his senses. He barely felt the wires sticking out of him at every angle although the blood still seeped out from his skin. He hugged his knees closer to his chest and leaned his head against the glass, staring blankly at the floor._

_Something sounded far away in his ears. An insistent thumping. He wearily lifted his eyes to see someone tapping against the glass at him. Beside the strange man was Orochimaru grinning sadistically at him. He would later recognize the man as the Ankokukage, but for now he had never seen him before._

_The Ankokukage cocked his head and scoffed at Ke's inactive form. After speaking a few words to Orochimaru he turned back to the tank expectantly. Ke merely blinked at him. Orochimaru had walked over to a panel and typed in a few commands._

_The water around Ke was instantly electrified and he jerked as the shocks racked his system. He thrashed wildly in the tank as the Ankokukage smiled._

Ke sat up alone in the empty apartment. He was on the issued couch with boxes full of unpacked books and scrolls littering the room. Swinging his legs off the couch he leaned forward onto his knees and stared at the ground. "Shit," he muttered.

He walked over to the window and opened it. Stepping out onto the ledge he let the cool night air cool his sweating body. Jumping off, he ran across the rooftops. He let the wind wash over him and wished it would take the taste of the dream out of his mouth as well. But the enamel Hanya mask covering his face only let his hot breath blow back in his face. He crouched down on a ledge and peered out over Konoha. It was so quiet. In Hikage, Chuunin would be wandering the streets with various prostitutes and such. But here all the families were in bed. He looked out beyond Konoha's walls and saw the forest, still and green. He sensed no great dark aura emanating from the woods and saw no demons slithering about.

Konoha was vastly different than Hikage. It was the perfect place for Rei, Toya, and Rin. Ke was sure of it. Here they were safe from their pasts as well as the Ankokukage. However, for Ke, the warmth of the Leaf Village still left him cold.

Ke sighed as the bitter taste of his dream still lingered in his mouth. After dreams like that he'd usually go to Chiba or Yue. Chiba always knew the right thing to say to clear Ke's head of Orochimaru. And Yue would always provide some sort of distraction. A pang sounded in Ke's chest and he let out a rueful laughe. He actually missed them.

"It's a little late to be out, even for demons," Kakashi appeared behind Ke who faltered. Looking back at the Copy Cat ninja he nodded approvingly.

"You're getting pretty good at that," Ke complimented.

"That's a real honor coming from you," Kakashi thanked and leaned against the ledge next to Ke. "So what brings you out at this time of night?"

"Just thinking about how different Hikage and Konoha are," Ke shrugged and looked back out over the city. "It's a lot cleaner than what I'm used to, let's just say that."

"Ah," Kakashi nodded. "Well, if you're done pondering the wonders of the universe. Care to join me for a drink?"

Ke continued to stare out at Konoha. Kakashi looked up at him in expectation. He jumped down from the ledge and waved Kakashi on. "Sure, as long as you're buying."

* * *

"Why are we here?" Kisame asked as he and Itachi stood outside Hikage forest. "They Kyuubi and Hokou are in Konoha."

"We're doing research," Itachi responded and walked towards the forest. Kisame shouldered the Samehada and followed Itachi.

* * *

"You haven't touched your drink," Kakashi noted as the glass remained untouched in front of Ke. Ke glanced down at the table and shrugged.

"It's a little hard to drink with a mask on." He explained. "Why haven't you touched your drink?"

"I see your point," Kakashi laughed at his own full glass. "I guess a drink wasn't the best idea."

"Why don't you just ask the questions you want answered and we can skip all these niceties," Ke looked at Kakashi who cocked his head.

"Blunt I see," Kakashi raised his eyebrow and leaned on the table between them. "Well, let me start by saying I do trust you, Ke. I just want to get to know you better."

"How ironic," Ke laughed. "The two masked ninjas sharing intimate details."

"I guess it is a little ironic," Kakashi shrugged and touched his own mask. "These masks hide something for both of us. I don't know what you're hiding and you don't know what I'm hiding. But I'm not here to find out what's behind those demon fangs."

"You want to know about Orochimaru, don't you?"

"Again with the bluntness," Kakashi laughed. "Did he really create you?"

"Yeah, can't you see the family resemblance?" Ke asked pointing to his mask and Kakashi leaned upon his fist, unamused. Ke waved him off. "Fine, fine, no more jokes. Orochimaru did create me and raise me. But only until I was five. Then he and the Ankokukage had a falling out and Orochimaru decided to destroy all the research he had done for Hikage village. I was the only one of his projects who escaped and I ran into the woods."

"Orochimaru trained you then?"

"Wouldn't call it training," Ke's dreams flashed in his mind. "More like…conditioning. Most of my techniques were developed when I ran away into the forest."

"With the demons?"

"Yeah."

"And then the Ankokukage found you and made you a Hikage genin?"

"Not quite," Ke corrected. "He tried to kill me at first. When he found out he couldn't he stuck me in a genin group with Chiba and Yue. I guess he hoped to get some use out of me or that Chiba or Yue would eventually kill me. And here I am today."

"Rough life," Kakashi noted.

"I've heard worse stories," Ke shrugged again. "At least I ended up with Chiba and Yue."

"They are about the only decent people in all of Hikage, aren't they?"

"Well, they didn't start out that way," Ke countered. "Chiba was a spoiled little brat who was constantly out to prove himself to be the strongest. And Yue was a mute who coasted through life on natural undeveloped talent with little care about anyone but himself. Let's say they didn't get along."

"Yeah, I have some experience with people like that," Kakashi raised his eyebrows knowingly. "So what happened?"

"Yue began to care about Chiba and helped him get stronger. Chiba stopped trying to beat Yue and began to learn from him."

"Why the sudden change?"

"Beats me," Ke looked away through the window and Kakashi cocked his head.

"You're very close with them, aren't you?" He asked and Ke shrugged.

"It's hard not to be close with people you spend every waking moment of your life with."

"Hmm," Kakashi raised an eyebrow and Ke looked back at him.

"What? Fine, we're the bestest of friends. We share all of our secrets and have slumber parties where we braid each other's hair. Are you happy now?" Ke retorted and Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on. Aren't you close with the two ninja who were in your genin group?"

"No," it was Kakashi's turn to look away. "They're dead."

Ke fell silent.

* * *

Kisame unshouldered his Samehada as Hikage village came into view but Itachi put a firm but gentle hand on it, unaffected by its chakra absorbing abilities. Kisame looked over at him.

"You won't need that," he said and looked up at the seals which stood over the entrance to Hikage. He focused his chakra. "Amaterasu jutsu."

The black flames ignited and began to burn through the ofuda.

"Oh no," Hake whispered as he peered at the strangers from his hiding place in the woods. "I need to report this to Ke-sama!"

* * *

Reviews anyone? 


	6. Chapter 5

Naruto answered his door and blinked in surprise when he saw Rin there.

"Rin?" He questioned. She walked into the apartment brushing past him and began to inspect the place.

"I'm bored," she said turning away from her snooping. "Let's do something."

"Where are Toya and Rei?"

"They're being boring," Rin rolled her eyes. "Toya's _still _unpacking and I think Rei's out with Neji, again. So let's do something!"

"Like what?" Naruto asked and Rin smiled.

"Show me that forest," she said and Naruto blanched.

"You mean the Forest of Death?" He swallowed and she nodded.

"Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the apartment.

* * *

"This place is so cool!" Rin exclaimed as they made their way through the dark undergrowth. Naruto picked his way carefully with his eyes constantly darting around for enemies.

"We shouldn't be here," he frowned. "There are too many dangerous things-"

"Ah!" Rin stretched her arms over her head. "This place reminds me of home."

"That's not a very good thing," Naruto frowned and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"It wasn't that bad, you know," she said and continued to walk with Naruto following. "Living in Hikage forest was actually kind of fun."

"With all of the demons?"

"They never bothered us," Rin shrugged. "Ke-sensei made sure of that. And it was so much fun growing up with Rei and Toya and Ke-sensei. We were one big happy family."

"But didn't you miss the villagers?"

"No," Rin shook her head. "I never really spent time in the village. Like I said before, Ke-sensei has raised me since I was young. And when I did go there, they kind of treated me like crap."

"Didn't that hurt?" Naruto asked with a tinge of sadness but Rin merely shrugged.

"Ke-sensei had this saying which got me through it."

"What was that?"

"Screw them," Rin shrugged and Naruto blinked at her, surprised. Rin smiled gently back. "You were outcasted in Konoha because you carried the Kyuubi, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded.

"So was I," Rin admitted. "But I had Ke-sensei, Rin, and Toya. They're all I ever needed. Besides, the villagers hated Ke-sensei more than any of us."

"Why?"

"The Ankokukage made sure everyone thought he was a monster created by Orochimaru and we were just hopeless children kidnapped by him."

"Why didn't Ke do anything about it?" Naruto asked and Rin shrugged again.

"Well, he says he didn't care. But I think he did it to protect us. If everyone hated him and thought he was the bad guy they would see us as innocent victims rather than monsters. But he never really cared about the villagers anyway. He had us."

"Does," Naruto paused. "Does Ke know anything about Orochimaru?"

"Yeah, I mean he was with Orochimaru for five years." Rin assumed and continued to walk.

* * *

Ke picked up a scroll from one of the boxes and looked around the apartment for somewhere to put it. He frowned and threw the scroll back down. Nothing seemed right about this place. His head jerked towards the door when he heard a knock.

"Naruto?" Ke questioned as the ninja stared up at him seriously.

"You know about Orochimaru?" He asked. Ke cocked his head. Naruto's usual light demeanor was replaced by something darker and more serious. "He made you?"

"Naruto," Ke was slightly disturbed at the darkness in the usually cheery ninja's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I need to know about Orochimaru!" Naruto yelled his eyes burning and Ke took a step back in surprise. He rested his hand on the door frame as he studied the Konoha genin. He hated to see Naruto like this.

"I'll make you a deal. You land one hit on me, and I'll tell you everything I know about Orochimaru." Ke proposed and Naruto blinked up in surprise. The darkness was gone and Ke smiled behind his mask.

"Really?" He asked and Ke nodded. "All right! You have no idea what you've gotten yourself-"

Ke slammed the door in his face, "That should distract him for awhile."

* * *

Saliva dripped off the fangs of the jackal demon as it eyed the Hikage Chuunin. The two of them backed up against the building with kunei bared. But even they knew their blades were no match for the teeth of the beast. Its red fur bristled and muscles tensed before leaping towards the Chuunin. They flinched and prepared for the onslaught.

"Dark Hands jutsu!" Chiba yelled. The shadows on the street flickered as hands formed in the darkness and shot out, ensnaring the demon and pulling it to the ground.

"Chiba-sensei!" One of the chuunins yelled gratefully as Chiba jumped down from the rooftops flinging shurikens at the trapped demons. The weapons embedded themselves into the head of the beasts who quickly crumbled away into dust.

"It's all right," Chiba assured. "Now get to safety."

"Yes sir!" They saluted before bounding away. Chiba watched them go and sensed a presence behind him. He looked up to see Yue.

"Aren't the chuunin supposed to be helping us with this demon infestation?" Yue asked as he landed beside Chiba.

"Give them a break, they're scared," Chiba said and Yue sneered.

"Whatever," he shrugged. "I wonder how the hell all these demons ended up in the village anyway."

"Yeah, how did they get passed all of the ofuda?"

"And why isn't the Ankokukage doing a damn thing about it?" Yue frowned. "Whatever, we'll do this on our own, like always.

"Yeah," Chiba nodded. Yue looked at his as if waiting for something. "What?"

"Never mind," Yue sighed. "We'll split up. You take west, I'll take east. Any chuunin you find assemble into teams of two to warn villagers and help them escape the demons. But above all they should avoid confrontation with demons. After we've covered the village we'll go and check the seals at the gates."

"Right," Chiba nodded and frowned. He felt as if he should have thought of that first.

* * *

Ke leaned back as he rested on the roof. He was somewhere along the outskirts of Konoha, as far away from people he could get without leaving the village. The stars sparkled above him as his body relaxed and succumbed to sleep. His head began to droop and finally rolled to one side.

"Gotcha!" Naruto announced as his fist slammed into Ke's mask. But instead of feeling the enamel and porcelain crack under his hand Naruto felt nothing but smoke. He blinked in surprise.

"Gotta do better than that, kid," Ke stifled a yawn as he got the words out. Naruto turned to see him sitting on the ledge.

"You!" Naruto pointed his finger at him. "I'll get you and you will answer my questions about Orochimaru!"

Ke merely shrugged before jumping off the roof.

"Dammit!" Naruto yelled before forming a familiar seal. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Hundreds of Narutos sprung from the rooftops. Ke looked back.

"This is going to be interesting," he noted.

* * *

Kakashi woke with a jerk as a crash sounded outside his apartment. Narrowing his eyes he flung his covers off and quickly dressed. Running outside he was shocked to see a deserted street. Nothing was around which could have made those noises.

"What is going-" A flying Naruto crashed into Kakashi's back before he could finish his sentence. He turned around and fanned away the smoke from the clone. Narutos were being thrown off of the roof above him. His eyes narrowed before he jumped up.

* * *

Ke easily avoided the multiple Narutos' attacks as they came at him non stop. He grabbed one by the arm and spun it around before flinging it back into the crowd effectively extinguishing the remaining five Narutos. Only one remained now.

Naruto rubbed his head as Ke walked up to him and extended a hand. Naruto frowned at the extended limb.

"Hey, don't be like that," Ke cocked his head. "You did good, I'm a little winded. And I guarantee, if you were actually trying to kill me you would have landed a lot of blows."

Naruto smiled and took his hand. Ke's hand closed around a puff of smoke.

"What the hell?" Ke stepped back in surprise. Naruto's hand broke through the roof tiles and grabbed Ke's foot bringing him down onto the ground. Naruto emerged from the roof and brought his fist down upon a puff of smoke.

"Dammit," Naruto muttered as the clone disappated beneath him. "I almost had him."

"What are you doing?" Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto flinched at the sight of his teacher.

"Oh, hello Kakashi-sensei," Naruto stood up and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you see, I was just…"

"We were just doing a little training," Ke appeared out of the shadows. Naruto looked at him in surprise as he approached them. "I just wanted to see what Konoha ninja were like, that's all."

"I see," Kakashi's eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"Well, now that we're done with that," Ke put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'm going to bed."

"What?!" Naruto demanded. "But you haven't told me anything about Orochimaru!"

"Orochimaru?" Kakashi question and looked at Ke. "You said you didn't know anything about him."

"All I know is that he's a bastard," Ke shrugged and looked at Naruto. "Is that helpful to you at all?"

"No," Naruto's face fell and Ke shrugged.

"Well, sorry I couldn't have been of more help," he waved before jumping off of the roof.

Naruto's fists tightened as he let out long strained breaths. Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"I will find him," Naruto whispered and looked up at Kakashi with fire in his eyes. "I will find Sasuke and bring him back!"  
"I know," Kakashi nodded. "But for now get some sleep."

Naruto nodded and they jumped off of the roof.

* * *

Ke settled back into the roof and was ready to drift back into sleep. However, his head jerked at the sound of someone landing in front of him. He sighed and stood up to face Kakashi.

"Can't a man get a decent night's sleep around here?!" He yelled in exasperation. Kakashi glared at him and Ke cocked his head. "What the hell did I do?!"

"Don't joke with Naruto," Kakashi warned. "Don't joke about things like that with Naruto."

"What? Orochimaru? Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Don't!" Kakashi's voice boomed over the quiet Konoha. "You don't know what Orochimaru has done to Naruto-"

"What he's done to Naruto?!" It was Ke's turn to yell. "What about what he did to me?! What about…"

He trailed off when he saw Kakashi's shocked expression. Ke looked away and breathed deep gathering his composure.

"Listen, I'm sorry." Ke apologized. "I won't joke with Naruto anymore. Okay?"

"What did Orochimaru do to you?" Kakashi asked and Ke's face snapped to him.

"None of your damn business," Ke growled and Kakashi put his hands in his pockets.

"Orochimaru was one of the legendary Sannin here in Konoha. I'm sure you knew that." Kakashi explained and Ke nodded. "Well, he's been back here several times since his defection. One of the times he claimed a genin, Sasuke Uchiha, as his next vessel. Sasuke is one of the last members of his clan. His older brother, Itachi, massacred them all before defecting himself. Sasuke left Konoha to seek power from Orochimaru so he could finally defeat Itachi. Naruto has sworn to bring him back."

"Why does Naruto care so much about Sasuke?"

"As you know, Naruto grew up with the Kyuubi inside of him. The villagers shunned him because they thought he was the monster who destroyed the village and killed so many of their loved ones. He was left alone his entire life."

"Why would he want to associate with people who treated him like that for such a stupid reason? In my opinion he was better off without them. He should have realized-"

"He couldn't," Kakashi interrupted. "Naruto never knew the Kyuubi was in him. He spent his childhood alone and didn't even know why. When he became a genin he was put into my team with Sasuke. Sasuke became his first and best friend."

"I see," Ke looked at the ground. "I am sorry, Kakashi."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," Kakashi said and Ke sighed.

"I'll buy him ramen or something, Rin said he liked it," Ke shrugged. "Now can you just leave me alone so I can sleep?"

"Why are you sleeping out here? You have a bed."

"I like the fresh air," Ke offered and Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Hey, do I ask you about your stupid little ninja mask? No, so leave me the hell alone!"

Kakashi shrugged before jumping off the roof. Ke sighed and fell backwards casting an arm over his eye slits. However, another noise called his attention. Sitting up abruptly he looked towards the noise. "I thought I told you to-Hake?"

The raccoon demon bounded towards Ke and landed on his chest. It buried its head into his chest and whimpered. Ke's arms went around it in concern and petted the animal. "Hake?! What's wrong?!"

"Ke-sama," Hake whimpered. "The seals are gone. The seals protecting Hikage are gone."

"What?!" Ke's heart raced. _Chiba, Yue. _"KAKASHI!"

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" Ke burst into Tsunade's office with Kakashi following close behind. Shizune dropped the files she was holding in surprise and Tsunade looked up from her paperwork.

"What do you want at this time of night?" She asked.

"Please, Hokage-sama, allow me to go back to Hikage!" Ke pleaded.

"Hikage?" Tsunade questioned. "I thought you were exiled. And better yet, don't you hate that place?"

"I do, it's just…" Ke trailed off.

"You're worried about Yue and Chiba, aren't you?" Kakashi deduced and Ke looked back at him in surprise. He nodded slowly.

"Please, Hokage-sama," Ke stepped towards her. "One of my scouts just reported that the seals protecting the village from the demons have been destroyed somehow. Yue and Chiba won't be able to handle it on their own and they can't restore the seals without me. Please, let me go."

"You're not going without us!" Rin yelled as she, Rei, and Toya ran into the room.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ke demanded.

"You're not going back to Hikage without us, Ke-sensei," Toya reiterated.

"And how the hell did you find out that I was going back?" Ke crossed his arms over his chest. The genin looked guiltily at each other. The door of the office creaked slightly as Hake poked his head in. He waved a small paw at Ke.

"I might have told them," he said meekly.

"You little-" Ke started to step towards him but Rei stepped in between them.

"Ke-sensei," she said. "We care just as little about that village as you do. But we do care about Chiba-sensei and Yue-sensei. Please, let us help them."

"Fine," Ke agreed after much hesitation and they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Hold on now," Tsunade's authoritative voice called their attention towards her desk. "I haven't exactly agreed to this."

"Hokage-sama please!" Rin ran forward and put her hands on her desk. "You can't expect us to just sit here when Yue-sensei and Chiba-sensei are in trouble! You need to let us go!"

"I won't risk the Houkou leaving Konoha," Tsunade shook her head. "It's too dangerous with Akatsuki around."

"Well then, I'll just sneak out of the village and go anyway!" Rin said defiantly. "You can't stop me!"  
Tsunade frowned and leaned towards Shizune. "She is far too much like another Jinchuuriki we know, isn't she?"

"Maybe it's better to just let them go," Shizune whispered in response.

"I don't really have a choice," Tsunade sighed. "Fine. But I won't let you four go alone. Kakashi!"

"Yes?" He asked.

"You, Naruto, and Neji will accompany them since you are already familiar with the village."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he nodded.

"Hokage-sama," Ke called and Tsunade raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. "Thank you."

Tsunade smiled and nodded.

* * *

Yue ran his fingers across the charred gates of Hikage. "Who the hell did this?"

"These are no ordinary burns," Chiba frowned as his own fingers dipped into a groove left by the attack. "Whatever fire was here burned through the rock itself."

"Dammit, and we can't even restore these seals," Yue punched the rock.

"Not without Ke anyway," Chiba leaned his forehead against the stone. "Didn't realize how much I'd miss the monster."

"Really? I did," Yue raised an eyebrow shrugging and Chiba looked at him, smiling reluctantly. Suddenly, the ground shook, breaking their gazes. They looked off towards the forest for the source of the quakes. Slowly stepping from the forest was a large boar demon. Its tusks curved upwards ending in a sharp point and its eyes glowed red.

"You have got to be kidding me," Yue muttered. It quickly spotted the two jounin and bounded towards the gate. It crashed into the stone underneath Chiba and he jumped away landing behind the beast. It turned around quickly and charged towards him. Forming the seals quickly his eyes flashed.

"Blinding light jutsu!" A bright flash emanated from his eyes and the boar reared back, blinded by the bright light. It shook its head wildly and pawed at the ground. Chiba formed more hand seals. "Dark Cage jutsu!"

The shadows of the forest reached out towards the beast and grew up from the ground forming bars around it. After the spots cleared from its vision its eyes opened wide with rage when it discovered it was trapped. It thrashed wildly in the cage and banged against the bars. Chiba winced as the boar hit the bars; he was straining under the pressure of the boar's hits. Finally, he couldn't hold it any longer and released the jutsu. The boar's eyes returned to him. Chiba frowned and backed away into the shadows as it stepped towards him slowly.

It pawed the ground before charging at him at full speed. But it was too late, Chiba was already submerged in the darkness of the forest. "Dark escape jutsu!"

He literally melted into the shadows and disappeared. The boar continued on its rampage and destroyed the forest in place of Chiba. In the meantime Chiba emerged from one of the shadows by Yue.

"Thanks for all your help," he said sarcastically and Yue shrugged.

"It looked like you had it under control," he said and Chiba rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll finish it off."

Yue jumped down from the stone wall and stood behind the boar patiently waiting for it to finish with its tantrum. The boar stilled as a new scent filled its nostrils. It turned a red eye upon Yue. Swerving around it charged again. Yue flashed hand signs in retaliation, "Blind darkness!"

The boar skidded to a stop and blinked quickly. It, it couldn't see. Everything around it was pure blackness. It was blind, it had gone blind.

"You see Chiba," Yue turned up to the slightly younger jounin. "When dealing with such a wild opponent it's better to incapacitate it first."

"Uh, Yue?" Chiba pointed behind Yue. He turned and his eyes widened as he saw the boar thrashing around wildly.

It couldn't SEE! It couldn't SEE!

"Shit," Yue muttered and dodged one of its frantic outlashes. It froze as its ears perked at the sound of Yue's feet. He looked down at his own feet. "Shit."

The boar lunged towards him and he braced himself. He winced waiting for the onslaught, but it never came. Slowly opening his eyes Yue blinked at the boar that stood mere feet from him. It was struggling against the chakra whip which had wrapped around its throat.

"Ke!" Chiba's voice cried as he spied the jounin struggling to hold the boar back from impaling Yue. Yue smiled as his eyes fell on his former teammate. Ke heaved and the boar was forced to come around and face Ke. He held one hand up and dispelled Yue's jutsu. The boar blinked as his vision was filled with colors and images.

"Good, now you can experience your death fully," Ke said. "Demon fang jutsu!"

Spikes grew from the whip on both sides around the boar's neck. It wailed in pain as the spikes grew into its flesh. Ke tugged hard on the whip letting it circle round and round the demon's neck, acting like a saw. The boar's head fell away from the body as the two dropped to the ground.

Ke dispelled the chakra whip as the demon began to smoke and disappate.

"Ke!" Chiba yelled and approached him, one hand out. Ke clasped it and brought his comrade in for a hug.

"I had it under control," Yue said as he approached the two. "You didn't have to do that."

"Whatever," Ke pulled him into the same hug.

"It's so good to see you," Chiba beamed but Yue's face was a bit more serious.

"Yeah, it is, but we have a slight crisis on our hands if you haven't noticed. We need to get rid of these demons as quickly as possible."

"The Konoha ninja and our genin are already inside Hikage destroying the ones in the village," Ke informed. "Our best plan of action is to restore the seals so no more demons can get in. Then destroy the remaining ones."

"Sounds good to me," Chiba said and looked up at the crumbled wall. "But the wall is destroyed."

"So?" Ke shrugged. "Who needs a wall?"

"How are you going to seal the village without a wall?" Yue raised an eyebrow.

"My techniques are a little more advanced than the archaic sealing methods used to originally seal the village. No offense, Chiba."

Ke clapped him on the shoulder and he smiled. Ke pulled off his glove and pricked his finger with a kunei. He began to scrawl symbols in blood on the ground around him until he had formed an elaborate seal. Straightening he cracked his back and affirmed his stance. He began to form hand signs and the seal at his feet began to glow. As the speed of his hand signs increased as the seal grew brighter and began to grow in size as well. It grew past the three jounin and extended through the entire village. Ke's hand signs stopped and he slammed he hands to the ground, "Demon Blood Circle Ward jutsu!"

Energy shot up from the seal towards the sky. Yue and Chiba shielded their eyes from the light. Eventually, the seal dimmed and disappated.

"Nice," Chiba nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, now all we have to do is get rid of all the demons already in the village," Yue said sarcastically. Ke jumped up to the gates of Konoha and looked at the burn marks.

"These aren't normal burn marks," he noted.

"Yeah," Yue called, "they burned through rock. Fire can't do that, no matter how hot."

"They were wearing these cloaks," Hake called as he emerged from the shadows. He picked his way slowly along the debris. The three jounin turned towards him as he tumbled down a pile of rocks. Shaking the dusk off he blinked up at them. "Black cloaks with red clouds."

"Akatsuki," Ke hissed and his fists tightened.

"They must have thought Rin was still here," Chiba deduced. "And now she is, it's a trap! We need to get Rin out of here as soon as possible-"

"No," Ke interrupted jumping down and Chiba looked at him in surprise. "Akatsuki knows better than to try and capture Rin when they're surrounded by demons. The battle would release too much chakra and attract too many demons that would just get in their way. Their best bet is to get Rin outside of Hikage and then attack."

"So why would they burn the seals?" Yue looked up at the scorch marks.

* * *

"The Kyuubi has grown," Kisame noted as he and Itachi watched Naruto fend off demons. Itachi nodded as the shadows slid over his face.

"They're both here," Itachi added when Rin saved Naruto from an overhead attack. "I didn't expect them both to come. It's a shame the Kyuubi didn't stay in Konoha. We could take him there and get the Houkou when it leaves Hikage again."

"Well, what do we do now?" Kisame asks shifting his Samehada around restlessly.

"It would be too hard to deal with them now," Itachi said as he focused his Sharingan. "The Kyuubi has gained significant control over his demon chakra. And the Houkou seems to be in complete control of its chakra. Not to mention the demons crawling over this place."

"Did you notice how Bakemono attacked the demons that entered Hikage?"

"Yeah, so they aren't all allies after all. Bakemono only holds some of the demons in contract. That makes things simpler."

"He also replaced the seal which repelled the demons from this village," Kisame added. "In fact the seal he used is much more powerful and cannot be destroyed physically like the last ones."

"Hmm," Itachi's eyes narrowed. "So the monster is fairly good at sealing justsus. He did, after all, seal the Houkou into that girl fairly effectively."

"Yeah, the Houkou doesn't seem to affect her mental state at all like the Shukaku did." Kisame agreed.

"And she was able to master its chakra must faster than Naruto," Itachi said. "So we have a ninja whose sealing abilities surpass those of the Fourth's."

"That might cause some trouble," Kisame grinned. "Or a whole lot of fun."

"We should make a few preparations before we attack," Itachi turned and Kisame nodded as they disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

"Are they all gone?" Naruto panted as he scanned the empty streets. Rin clapped her hand on his shoulder.

"You did pretty good, Kyuubi," she smiled and he smiled in return.

"Hey!" Rei called as she, Toya, and Neji joined them.

"Hey, do you think we've gotten all the demons?" Rin asked. Neji called upon his byakugan and scanned the area.

"I don't see any," he determined.

"Yeah, and I don't smell any," Rin agreed sniffing the air. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait."

A lynx demon jumped out from the debris and hurtled towards them. Rin threw her arm out and shot several energy attacks towards the demon but it evaded.

"Dammit, it's fast," she muttered as it continued to come closer.

Rei stamped her foot causing a chunk of rock to fly up. She held her open hands out and slowly formed fists. As her hands closed the rock dissolved into sand and began to circle her. She threw an arm out sending the sand towards the demon. It stabbed at the lynx but it just continued to evade each hit. It made one leap towards the group. Toya unsheathed his katana and stood ready with Naruto and Rin. Neji had unconsciously put an arm in front of Rei.

"Fire Style: Pheonix Flower jutsu!" Kakashi yelled as he came running down the rooftops with fireballs shooting out of his mouth. The attack caused the demon to jump back from the other ninja as it tried to dodge the fireballs. One of the attacks grazed its leg, singing its fur. Kakashi joined the other ninja. "Guess we missed one."

"Hopefully it's the only one," Rin muttered as she worked her hands together. Naruto looked down in curiousity.

"What are you doing?"

"Molding chakra," she shrugged and began to pull the chakra she had in her hands into a long rope. She sent it flying towards the demon that dodged it again but Rin was prepared. Tugging at her end the rope redirected and shot upwards towards the demon. It wrapped itself around the beast's neck and sent it crashing into the ground.

"All right!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "You got it!"

Rin smiled in triumph. But before they could celebrate the demon took off running dragging Rin behind it.

"You have got to be kidding me," Kakashi muttered as he took off after the two.

"Demon fang jutsu!" Rin yelled as spikes grew along the chakra line cutting into the demon's neck. But she didn't have the footing to pull on the rope and decapitate the demon. Instead the spikes just punctured the skin and the demon let forth a howl as it continued to run. She managed to right herself and dug her heels into the ground. The demon strained against her but she was already funneling the chakra she had into her feet to bind her to the ground. "You're not getting away!"

The demon struggled in vain against her grip. The blood began to pour from its wounds on its neck as it struggled.

"Hold it there!" Toya yelled as he ran up, hand on sword. With one quick movement the demon's head rolled onto the ground and dissolved into dust. Toya sheathed his katana as the others ran up to him.

"Was that the last one?" Rei asked hopefully.

"Don't think so," Rin frowned as she sniffed the air. Neji nodded as he scanned the area.

"Yes, I see at least four more behind that wall," he pointed to a wall.

"Well, then," Naruto stepped forward. "Let's go!"

However, before they could go after the demons they came after them. The four lynx demons bounded towards them from behind the wall. They fell into defensive stances waiting for the demons to come but they just jumped over them and ran off down the street.

"Come back here!" Rin yelled as she went after them.

"Wait!" Kakashi yelled in vain and sighed when Naruto went after her. "I can only take so much."

"Come on," Rei urged as she chased after them and Neji and Toya followed. Kakashi sighed before following. He ran after the younger ninja as he thought back on his days working with people his own age and greatly missed the past.

"You look pleased," Ke noted as he joined Kakashi.

"They just rush right in," Kakashi noted. "Without even thinking."

"C'mon, they're just kids. Besides, they know demons inside and out. There's nothing to worry about," Ke assured. Yue and Chiba jumped down from rooftops and started to run beside them.

"Kakashi," Chiba smiled. "Good to see you again."

"Same here, although I wish we met under slightly different circumstances." Kakashi said.

"What's the situation?" Yue asked.

"I'm smelling four lynx demons," Ke informed. "The genin, Neji, and Naruto are off ahead. They can handle it but we should go just in case the battle attracts more demons."

"Right," Yue nodded and they jumped up. Landing in front of a large building they paused. It seemed in much better condition than the rest of Hikage although still a little run down. It was obviously one of the better off businesses. Ke approached the building.

"They're in there," Ke said, a slight annoyance present in his tone.

"Well then, let's go," Yue stepped into the building and the rest of the jounin followed.

"You're too late," Rin informed as the jounin joined the younger ninjas. "We've already killed it."

"Good, let's get out of here then," Ke said and Rei was the first to move towards the door.

"You?" A voice called and Rei froze. An older woman stood in the doorway with a loose kimono falling off of her shoulders and her face heavily makeuped. The powder in her face caked around her wrinkles marring what beauty she had left in her old and used age. "I can't believe you dare show your face around here."

"Excuse me Miss," Kakashi spoke up. "We're just here to exterminate the demons which are swarming Hikage-"

"Not you," she snapped irritably and waved her fan at Rei. "Her. What makes you think you can come back here after abandoning your own mother?"

"Mother?" Neji questioned Rei but her eyes remained glued to the floor.

"Well," the woman continued as she inspected Rei. "You didn't turn out to be too bad. You would have made a fine girl for this house, you know? You could have paid me back for all the things I went through for you. You could have been something."

"She is something!" Rin interrupted. "She's a ninja!"

"A ninja!?" She cackled. "As if someone like her could ever be a ninja! She's just a pathetic little girl who no one wanted, not even me. But I still kept her. And how does she repay me? She runs away to chase some impossible dream of being a ninja! No, she's not a ninja. She's nothing but a whore."

"Shut up you ugly hag!" Naruto took a step forward but Ke had flashed before the woman and slammed her into the wall. She struggled against Ke's grip as his hand tightened around her neck.

"You worthless old bitch," Ke hissed. "Just because you amounted to nothing doesn't mean your daughter won't. You're the worst kind of person to condemn her to your pathetic way of life."

"Why should she be any better than me? She's nothing! She's-" The woman was cut off by Ke's tightening hand.

"Ke!" Kakashi took a step forward.

"Please, Ke!" Chiba pleaded. "Stop!"

Chiba and Kakashi steped forward but Yue held a hand out and stilled them. Yue walked forward and put a hand on Ke's shoulder.

"She's not worth it," he gently reminded.

"Please," Rei's voice was small but it immediately called Ke's attention. "Please stop, Ke-sensei."

Ke looked over at her before throwing the woman down. She skidded to a stop across the room and Ke shoved his hands in his pockets and faced his genin.

"You three pissed?" He demanded.

"Hell yeah," Rin said, her eyes flashing dangerously. Toya's matched her's.

"Then take it out on the five horse demons waiting outside," Ke ordered and the five dispersed. Ke followed them slowly out. Kakashi went next, then Chiba, and Yue after. Yue paused at the door and looked back at the struggling prostitute.

"Next time," he called her attention. "I won't stop him."

* * *

"Hey!" Ke glanced up to see five Hikage chuunin waiting atop the wall surrounding the brothel.

"What the hell do you want?" Ke snapped as they approached. They flinched as they felt his anger crackle in the air but what appeared to be the leader stepped forward. He looked towards Chiba and addressed him instead of the demon jounin.

"The Ankokukage wants to see Bakemono and the genin," he informed.

"No," Ke shook his head. "We're done here."

"We'll see the Ankokukage," Chiba informed and turned to Ke. "You should take the genin as far away as quickly as possible."

"But, the Ankokukage," the chuunin reminded.

"Like I give a shit what he wants," Ke snapped and the chuunin flinched again.

"I didn't expect traitors to appear before me so readily," the Ankokukage appeared. He approached the small group and looked disdainfully at Ke.

"Traitor?" Ke's fists tightened. "How dare you-"

"I only banished Rin," the Ankokukage reminded calmly. "You and Rei leaving the village means you are traitors."

"What about me?" Toya stepped forward. The Ankokukage glanced at him before returning his gaze to Ke.

"It's not your fault you were kidnapped by this one," he shrugged.

"Kidnapped?!" Toya was outraged. "I wasn't kidnapped you old bastard!"

"Watch your mouth!" The Ankokukage bellowed.

"Shut the hell up!" Toya screamed back. "You're no different than my father! Always favoring the three founding families over all else. Thinking you're so great and everyone else is just garbage just because of your name! Well you're nothing! Do you hear me?! NOTHING!"

Ke placed a hand on Toya's shoulder and he stilled. He looked over at Rei and Rin. "Come on, we're leaving."

"No," the Ankokukage took a step forward. "You're not going anywhere."

"Who's going to stop us? You?" Ke whirled around to face him. The Ankokukage glanced over at Chiba and Yue.

"I won't," Chiba shook his head.

"No way in hell," Yue agreed. The Ankokukage's eyes narrowed and eventually fell on Kakashi who shrugged.

"It's not in our contract to hunt after defected ninja," he explained. "We really can't help you."

"Then why the hell are you here anyway?" The Ankokukage snapped and Kakashi faltered.

"Well," he scratched his cheek.

"They were passing through the Bear Country on a mission and heard about our demon problem," Chiba spoke up and physically put himself between Kakashi and his father. "They came to help."

"Hmm," the Ankokukage's frown deepened as he inspected the Konoha ninja.

"If we're done here," Ke spoke up. "We're leaving."

"We must be going as well," Kakashi waved goodbye.

"Good, it will be nice to clean out some trash," the Ankokukage spat and the Konoha and defected ninja walked away.

"Ke!" Chiba called as he and Yue came after them. He grasped Ke's hand tightly. Yue placed his hand upon Chiba's and they squeezed. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

_They're just like brothers_, he noted.

* * *

Neji walked steadily behind Rei, his Byakugan focused on her back instead of the surrounding forest. Her gaze hadn't left the forest floor since they left Hikage. Naruto glanced over at her and opened his mouth to speak but no words came. He looked over at Rin.

"What?" She asked.

"It's," Naruto paused and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Rei."

Rin looked over at her and frowned. She came up beside her and wrapped her arm around hers. Rei looked up at her sadly and rested her head on Rin's shoulder. Neji frowned and quickened his pace so he could say something to her.

"Hold up," Ke called and the group paused. Kakashi reached down casually and rested his hand on his weapons pouch.

"There's only one," Neji informed as he scanned the trees with his Byakugan.

"Well, we know you're there!" Rin snapped. "Just come out already!"

"Not one for subtlety, is she?" Kakashi sighed. Ke shrugged and sniffed the air.

"Go on ahead," he turned to Kakashi. "I'll meet up with you all after I take care of this."

"I dunno," Kakashi eased his forehead protector up revealing the Sharingan. "I've never had much experience with fighting demons. It would be interesting to face a few."

"Suit yourself," Ke shrugged and turned to the younger ninja. "We'll meet you all at the edge of the forest."

"Are you sure?" Toya asked his hand resting on his hilt and Ke waved them off.

"Yeah, yeah, go on!" He insisted and ruffled Rei's hair. "Get out of here as soon as possible, okay?"

"Yes sensei," Rei smiled thankfully before they disappeared into the forest. Ke looked up into the leaves.

"Well, are you coming out or not?" He asked. A large wolf descended from the trees and landed with a loud crash in front of the two jounin. Kakashi gripped a kunei in one hand as he eyed the beast warily. It shook its body before blinking its large yellow eyes at the two and baring its great fangs. Kakashi's grip tightened as he noticed the creature was easily twice the size of a full grown man.

"Haven't seen you for a while," Ke knelt down and proceeded to scratch behind the beast's ears. Its eyes closed as it leaned into his hands. Kakashi blanched.

"You know that thing?" He asked and Ke looked back at him.

"Of course," he continued to scratch behind the wolf's ears. "This is Take, he was one of my first summoning contracts. Isn't that right Take?"

Ke continued to rub along the wolf's neck and Take shook with pleasure. Kakashi just sighed and put his kunei away. "I'm never going to get used to you. You're actually treating that monster like a pet."

"Oh don't be fooled. This guy would rip me to shreds the first chance he got. Wouldn't you?" Ke posed the question and the beast actually smirked. Kakashi paled.

"So," Ke scratched under the wolf's chin. "Why did you come here?"

"Bero wants to see you," his guttural voice rumbled from behind sharp fangs.

"Is that so?" Ke stood up but continued to rub his head. Turning to Kakashi he shrugged. "I need to take care of this. You're welcome to go meet up with the others and I'll see you out there."

"I'm fine," Kakashi answered and Ke cocked his head.

"All right then, let's go," he leapt up into the trees and Kakashi followed.

* * *

"Scared?" Ke asked as Kakashi picked his way carefully behind him.

"No," Kakashi answered indignantly. He looked around the darkened cave and made out the shadowy shapes of other wolf demons. "Why are there so many wolf demons here?"

"Wolf demons are some of the very few demons who travel in packs," Ke informed. "Most demons are loners who will attack anything if provoked, even their own kind. But wolves live in a pack. They have a better rate of survival that way. But don't get confused, they're a pack not a family. If one of them becomes weak or falls behind they won't hesitate to leave it behind or even eat it. But those decisions are generally made by the leader."

"Leader?" Kakashi wondered aloud and flinched as a group of wolves ran by quickly. He frowned and pushed his forehead protector up, activating the Sharingan. He wasn't going to take any chances here. He scanned the cave again, now a little more visible with the Sharingan. There were about two hundred wolf demons in the cave and all two hundred sets of eyes were indeed focused in on him and Ke. The amount of chakra in the cave from all of the wolves weighed heavily in the air and Kakashi felt the pressure. He unconsciously moved closer to Ke who seemed perfectly at ease among the demons. Kakashi continued to scan the cave and paused upon a gap in the rock. He looked at a little closer and what looked like swirling yellow and orange clouds inside the hole. Suddenly a large eye appeared in the cave. Kakashi whipped out a kunei and fell back into a defensive stance.

"Ke, look!" He called the other jounin's attention. Ke looked back casually and waved at the eye.

"Hey Bero," Ke greeted and Kakashi blinked at him in surprise.

"You know that thing?" He demanded.

"Of course. Kakashi, this is Bero. He was my first summoning contract." Ke informed and Kakashi inspected the beast. Most of the chakra in the cave was coming from that small hole, he could determine that much. But there was no way that much chakra could be contained in that small of a hole. And there was obviously much more to the beast than just the giant eye which appeared before them.

"Little one," Bero's voice rumbled from the hole. Despite the calm tone the sound shook the entire cave. "I heard you were leaving Hikage forest."

"Yeah," Ke shrugged. "The Ankokukage couldn't stand me or the Houkou anymore and banished us. Rei and Toya came too."

"Ah," the eye blinked. "I see."

"We're unofficial guests of Konoha now," Ke informed.

"Konoha? The Houkou and Kyuubi together? I wonder how much one village can take," Bero's laugh echoed in the cave.

"Will you remain in contract with me, Bero?" Ke asked.

"Contract?" The eye blinked again. "I don't see a reason why I shouldn't. You always bring me into fun fights. Gives me a chance to stretch my legs a little. Yes, I'll remain in contract with you, little one."

"Good to know," Ke nodded and waved. "I'm gonna go and say goodbye to the rest of the clan. I know they always planned on feasting on my remains. I'm just gonna have to disappoint them."

"You're the Copy Cat ninja of Konoha, Hatake Kakashi, aren't you?" Bero's booming voice called Kakashi's attention. "I've heard you've done some great things for a human, Kakashi."

"I'm honored a demon such as yourself has heard of me," Kakashi bowed slightly. "So you're the three-headed dog demon of Hikage, Berous. I'm impressed Ke has a contract with such a powerful demon."

"It is quite surprising what humans can do nowadays," Bero laughed an aged, experienced laugh. "Especially that one. That's why I'm in a summoning contract right now."

"How did you enter a contract with Ke?"

"I roamed these forests back with all of the tailed beasts. But the world grew tiresome and boring. So I came into this dimension and only entered your world to feed. That's when I came across that little one, twenty three years ago, covered in blood. But the little one possessed a fair amount of chakra, much more than expected from a human. That one would have made a nice snack, indeed. But then the little one surprised me."

"Surprised you?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow and Bero let out a growling chuckle.

"Yes, that little one surprised me. That one did not show any fear. I hadn't encountered a being who wasn't scared of me since the tailed demons roamed these lands. Then this one came along. When I looked into that face I saw no terror or trembling, I saw boredom. It was as if I was nowhere near the worst thing that one had ever faced even though I could have easily crushed that one. That one didn't care whether that one lived or died. That one didn't care about anything. That one didn't have the ties or emotions which make you others human. That one was a demon despite the weak human shell. That little one made an impression, to say the least. I entered into a summoning contract and had my pack look after that one. I wanted to see how strong this little one could become. Maybe that one could prove to be some fun one day.

"After I entered into a contract with that one the other demons wouldn't dare come after that one. Some even entered into their own contracts with the little one. And that one grew to the point where my protection wasn't needed. The other demons became scared of that little one and wouldn't dare attack even if I wasn't in contract with that one.

"But I still wanted to know. I wanted to know what that little one had seen that was so much worse than me. I don't like not knowing what is out in this world, you see? It makes me uneasy. And I couldn't help but wonder, did that little one lose that uncaring look? I have never seen a human with that little emotion. But since that little one's been put into that mask, I can't even see that one's eyes."

"What do you mean, 'put into that mask?'" Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"That little one didn't always wear that mask. The Ankokukage made that one wear it."

"He made Ke-" Kakashi started.

"Hey now," Ke appeared behind Kakashi. "You're not telling all my secrets, are you Bero?"

"I hope we see each other again soon, little one," Bero's voice grumbled. "Perhaps the next time will be the time I eat you. Please don't die before then."

"I'll try," Ke promised laughing.

"Goodbye Kakashi," Bero rumbled towards him. "It was nice to meet another human worth keeping alive."

"Thanks," Kakashi bowed uneasily.

* * *

Reviews anyone??? 


	7. Chapter 6

"Chiba?" Ke said in surprise as he and Kakashi emerged from the forest. Chiba and Yue were lounging on the grass with the genin and Neji. "Yue?"

"What took you so long?" Yue asked. "We've been waiting here forever."

Chiba stood up and met them as they approached.

"What are you doing here?" Ke asked clasping his hand.

"We checked and we didn't have any missions worth going on quite yet," Chiba informed. "So we decided to accompany you until you're out of the Country of Darkness. That way we can protect you from any enemies."

"I think the only enemies we have to worry about are Hikage ninjas," Toya said.

"Well in that case we don't have much to worry about," Rin smirked.

* * *

"Where," Naruto looked at the village before them. "Are we?"

"This is just a trading post on the outskirts of the Country of Darkness," Chiba informed. "We always stop here before leaving the country to refresh supplies and rest a bit."

"It's, really nice here," Naruto looked around at the crowds of happy people milling around the nicely kept buildings and clean streets. It was a drastic change from Hikage.

"The Country of Darkness isn't a poor country," Chiba said.

"Yeah, the Ankokukage just runs Hikage into the ground," Ke muttered and earned a disapproving glare from Chiba. "What? You know it's true."

"Rin!"

Rin turned at the sound of her name and was immediately tackled by a girl who could not have been older than five.

"Hey Mei!" Rin smiled cheerfully as she lay on her back.

"You guys are back!" Mei squeled as she looked up at Toya and Rei who smiled weakly back.

"Reiii!" Mei cried. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Rei blinked. "Oh, nothing. I'm just tired."

"You sure?" Toya asked and Rei nodded. She turned back to Ke.

"Ke-sensei, can I head over to the inn? I really want to go to sleep soon."  
"You okay?" Ke asked and Rei nodded. "Fine, go on."

"I'll see you all later. I promise to play with you later, okay Mei?" Rei said and Mei nodded.

"You've grown," Toya knelt down and ruffled Mei's hair. "Soon enough you'll be taller than me!"

"Then I can be a strong ninja! Just like you guys!" She looked around at them eagerly. Her eyes fell upon Neji and Naruto and she cocked her head. "Who are they?"

"This is Naruto and Neji," Rin said standing up. "They're really strong ninja from Konoha Village."

"Do you guys want to play with me?" Mei looked at them eagerly.

"Play?" Naruto was slightly confused. "Play what?"  
"Ninja of course!" Mei rolled her eyes. "For a great ninja you sure are slow!"

"I'm not slow!" Naruto said indigninantly. Neji looked at Rei who was walking away.

"We should turn in as well. That way we can leave early tomorrow. We don't have time for-" Neji began but Mei grabbed ahold of his hand and started to drag him off.

"There's always time for games silly!" She insisted.

"Come on," Rin pulled Naruto along and Toya followed.

"Will they be okay?" Kakashi asked as he watched Naruto and Neji being dragged off.

"They'll be fine. Mei and the kids here are harmless when they play ninja." Ke dismissed. "It's when they play pirate you have to worry."

"Let's eat," Yue said. "I'm starving."

"You coming, Kakashi?" Chiba asked.

"Oh," Kakashi paused for a moment. "I guess so."

He joined their group as they walked through the streets of the trading post. Chiba sidled beside Ke and nudged him.

"What?"

"We never got a chance to talk," Chiba shrugged. "How's Konoha?"

"There are a lot of people there," Ke answered and Chiba laughed.

"Yeah, funny how villages have people in them," he rolled his eyes.

"It's cleaner," Ke continued ignoring Chiba's joke. Chiba looked at him curiously. "The people there are really happy too. The genin are really happy there. They've made a lot of friends."

"How about you?" Chiba asked.

"Huh? What about me?"

"Are you happy there?"

"The genin are happy," Ke shrugged. "That's good enough for me."

Chiba frowned.

* * *

Naruto peered around the corner as he stayed hidden among the shadows. The street was empty of enemies. Only the occasional civilian appeared at the end of the street where it met a cross street. He cautiously stepped out.

"Gotcha!" Mei yelled and flung a water balloon. It exploded on Naruto's face and he fell back. He sputtered and wiped the water from his face. He blinked up at Mei who was shaking her head. Two other village boys and another girl came up behind her.

"You're a really bad ninja, you know that? Ninjas need to stay hidden!" The brown headed boy scolded.

"I'll show you what a real ninja can do," Naruto said indingnantly and crossed his fingers in front of his face. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Three more Narutos emerged from the smoke and began to chase after the small children.

* * *

"I got you!" A small girl with blue eyes declared as she threw a fishing net over Neji. He looked at her blankly.

"Well then, I guess I'm out," he said flatly and pulled the net off of him. He turned to walk away but she latched onto his arm. He looked down at her indingnantly. "What?"

"Ninjas don't just let their enemies go," she smiled and he faltered.

* * *

"I think I'm going to go back to the inn," Ke said as the jounin approached the restaurant.

"But we just got here," Chiba protested. "Don't you want to eat? I'm sure the wait won't be that long."

"I'm sure it won't because as soon as I step in there I'll clear the whole damn place out with this face," Ke said pointing to his mask and Chiba frowned. "I'll meet up with you guys later."

* * *

Naruto struggled in vain against the knots which chaffed his wrists. Sighing he looked over at Neji who was in a similar situation.

"Hey, Neji," Naruto called. At no answer, he frowned. "Neji!"  
"Don't talk to me," Neji muttered. He could not believe he let a bunch of five year olds trick him like this. Now he was tied up and stuck with Naruto.

"What do you mean, don't talk to you?" Naruto demanded. "We need to get out of here so we can get those little brats back!"

"Oh, my, god," Toya's voice called their attention. He was being led in by Mei and another little boy. "We all got caught?! This is unbelievable!"

They sat him down beside the other two boys.

"Well, well, well," Mei smirked. "Three down, one to go. You're getting sloppy Toya; you should stop hanging out with these guys. They're a bad influence."  
"I'll give you a bad influence," Naruto muttered as he inched his way towards the kids.

"Well, sit tight," Mei said. "We'll be back soon with Rin."

"This is pathetic," Neji muttered when they left. "I'm a jounin ninja and I was outsmarted by a bunch of four year olds."

"They're actually five and six, if that makes you feel better," Toya offered and Neji glared. "Guess not."

"Hey Toya," Naruto called. "They must have a weakness, right?"

"Yeah, they're six," Toya answered and Naruto's face fell.

"You know, you got caught too!" Naruto pointed out. "I wouldn't be so high and mighty."

"Yeah, but I got caught on purpose," Toya smiled.

"What?" Neji's interest returned.

"The advantage these kids have over us is they know this town like the back of their hands," Toya explained. "They spend every waking hour of every day finding every hiding place imaginable and leaving no corner unexplored."  
"That's why it was so easy for them to find me," Naruto deduced and Toya nodded.

"Yup. So our strategy is generally let one of us get captured fairly easily and the others can follow us to their hideout. Then we'll be released and plan a sneak attack." Toya shrugged.

"All three of you got caught?" Rin's eyebrows shot up as she entered the area. "Jeez, only one of you needs to be captured for the plan to work!"

"Hey, we're new to this," Naruto frowned as she rolled her eyes and began to untie them.

* * *

"Kakashi," Chiba called his attention as they waited for the bill.

"Yes?"

"How is Ke doing in Konoha?"

"Shouldn't you be asking Ke that?" Kakashi asked and Chiba frowned.

"We both know he's not going to tell me anything."

"Good point," Kakashi admitted. "I guess he's doing fine. It's taking him a while to adjust, but he doesn't seem upset with anything."

"Well, I guess that's something," Chiba sighed and leaned back.

"You're very concerned about him, aren't you?" Kakashi asked and Chiba looked up.

"Ke's been alone most of his life," Chiba shrugged. "It took Yue and me a very long time to get him to open up. I just don't want him to regress."

"Ke's fine," Yue spoke up. "He has the genin. He's not alone there."

"Yeah," Chiba nodded, but not satisfied.

They paid the bill and left the restaurant in silence. Chiba walked ahead of them staring at the ground and kicking up dust. Kakashi watched him intently; did Ke really concern him that much?

"He misses Ke," Yue said reading Kakashi's expression and Kakashi looked towards him. "We both do. We've been inseparable for eighteen years, Kakashi. And we're some of Ke's very few links to humanity. Now that Ke is in Konoha, Chiba is afraid of losing him. And frankly, so am I."

"Well, hopefully when Chiba becomes Ankokukage I can come back," Ke called from the rooftops.

"Ke!" Chiba's face brightened.

"I thought you were going back to the inn," Yue smile matched Chiba's and Ke shrugged.

"I was going to check on Rei, but she's not there," he said jumping down.

"Should we go find her?" Chiba asked and Ke shook his head.

"No, I sent Hake and Kitsuke out to tail her. I think she just needs a little alone time. What are you guys up to now?"

"I'm heading back the inn," Kakashi said and began to walk off. "I'll see you all in the morning."

"Hold up," Ke grabbed his arm and he looked back in surprise. "You are not leaving when I just got here. We need to have some fun."

"How?" Kakashi asked. "You've already pointed out the little dilemma of your mask scaring off everyone here."

"Oh, there are some places I'm welcome," Ke assured. Kakashi looked back at Yue and Chiba who were smiling. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

* * *

"Who's the ninja now?!" Naruto taunted the six year olds they had just finished tying up.

"No fair!" Mei protested. "You tricked us!"  
"Well," Rin said finishing up the last knot. "You should really learn from this. Ambushes are an inevitable part of being a ninja. Since we've used the same strategy against you guys every time we've played this you should have caught on by now."

"Take it as a ninja lesson," Toya offered.

"If Rei was here she wouldn't have let you guys be so mean!" Mei pouted.

"She's not far away," Neji said absently.

"Huh?" Rin asked and he snapped out of his own thoughts.

"What?" Neji asked turning to her. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Why is your Byakugan activated?"

"Oh," Neji relaxed his face and the Byakugan disappeared. "I just noticed Rei isn't at the inn. She's just a few streets over."

"What is she doing?" Toya asked.

"She's just walking, alone," Neji frowned. "Hake and Kitsuke are tailing her."

"Hmm," Rin's frown matched Neji's. "Hey Toya."

"Yeah?" Toya looked over at her.

"I think it's about time we paid a visit to some old friends," she smirked. Toya's face broke out into a grin.

* * *

"This isn't the inn."

Rei looked up and saw Rin at the end of the dark street.

"Oh, hi," she greeted weakly.

"Rei," Rin stepped closer to her and put her hands on Rei's shoulders. "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

"Nothing is going on," she smiled despite the tears forming in her eyes. "Really, I'm okay."

"Well," Rin shrugged. "If you're fine you won't mind having a little fun."

"Fun?" Rei blinked.

* * *

"There's no one here." Naruto said as they entered the empty bar.

"That's because it's seven o'clock. No one is going to be in a bar at seven," Toya said and began to look around.

"Well, why are we here then?" Neji asked.

"My friend's father owns this bar. He lets us play at night all the time." Toya explained.

"Play what?" Neji asked.

"Music," Toya continued. "When I come here it's the only time I can play with a real band. Rei loves our shows. Hopefully it will cheer her up."

"Toya?" A boy with brown eyes and long, messy blond hair came from behind the bar. "Toya!"

"Seji!" Toya greeted as they clasped hands.

"Hey man!" Seji greeted brightly. "Haven't seen you in forever! Where have you been?"

"Long story," Toya rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Hey Gene! Shinji!" Seji called and two more teenagers came from behind the bar.

"Toya! You're back!" The first shook his hand.

"Hey guys," Toya's smile was widening with the minute. Turning to Naruto and Neji he began to introduce them. "This is Neji and Naruto, they're ninja from Konoha."

"Whoa, more ninja," the boy with shaggy brown hair that obscured his eyes and a bright smile extended his hand. "I'm Shinji."

"And I'm Gene," the other with black hair spiked up and glasses greeted.

"I'm Seji," Seji pointed to himself. "What brings you all to our little bar?"

"We're with Toya," Naruto explained. "I hear you guys are in a band."

"Yeah, the best band!" Shinji assured. "And when Toya has the time he lowers himself to play with us."  
"Shut up," Toya shoved him.

"Oh come on," Gene joined in on the teasing. "The music prodigy can't take a little joke?"  
"Whatever," Toya rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Rin called their attention as she and Rei entered the bar.

"Rin!" Shinji greeted. "Rei!"

"Everyone's here," Gene noted and Toya nodded.

"Hey Rin," Seji waved his hand as a blush crept into his features. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Yeah, we haven't gotten out of Hikage in a while, that's for sure," Rin nodded.

"And now we can never go back," Toya shrugged and they laughed.

"What do you mean, you can never go back?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, we were definitely banished," Rin shrugged.

"Banished?" Seji paled. "Does that mean you won't be around here?"

"Well, not nearly as often," Rin shrugged.

"I have no choice then," Seji muttered.

"What?" Rin frowned. He ran behind the bar and came out with a guitar. Kneeling before Rin he began to play. Rin's frown deepened. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh Rin," Seji's cracking voice sang. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Whoa," Toya winced at the sound of his voice.

"This is why you're the singer," Gene sighed and Shinji nodded.

"I guess this is the perfect time to get the band back together, right?" Toya asked.

"Yes, we need to stop this now," Gene agreed and grabbed the guitar out of Seji's arms.

"Hey! I was in the middle of something!" Seji protested.

"You were in the middle of scaring her away forever," Gene rolled his eyes.

"Hey Seji! Let's play tonight," Shinji said eagerly.

"Oh man, I'd really like to but someone else is schedualed tonight." Seji informed.

"What? It's only seven," Rin said. "Who would want to play now? No one's even here!"

"Chiba-sensei, Yue-sensei?" Rei questioned as the two jounin came into the bar. Kakashi followed behind much slower.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rin asked.

"Ke asked us to meet him here," Chiba shrugged.

"Ke?" Shinji's face lit up. "The one with the really cool mask?! I love that guy."

"You would," Gene rolled his eyes.

"May I have your attention please?" The bar owner had stepped up on stage.

"Hey Gene, what's your dad doing?" Shinji asked and Gene just shrugged.

"I guess he's introducing the next act."

"It is my pleasure to have this next act. Although it is his first time performing here I can assure you of his immense talent," Gene's dad continued.

"Who is he talking to?" Naruto asked. "There's no one here but us."

"And now, introducing the Bakemono of Hikage!" He waved his hand with a flourish and ran off of the stage.

"Ke-sensei?" Rei was shocked when the curtains parted to reveal their sensei, mask and all, sitting at a piano. He began to play.

"_Isn't she lovely?  
Isn't she wonderful?l  
Isn't she precious?  
Less than sixteen years old  
I never thought through love they'd be  
Making one as lovely as she  
But isn't she lovely made from love"_

"Whoa, he's pretty good," Shinji nodded approvingly.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?" Chiba pointed at the stage in disbelief.

"Yeah," Yue nodded dumbly. "But I don't know if I believe it."

"_Isn't she pretty?  
Truly the angel's best  
Boy, I'm so happy  
We have been heaven blessed  
I can't believe what God has done  
by giving lovely life to one  
But isn't she lovely made from love."_

"This guy is too much," Kakashi laughed.

"_Isn't she lovely?  
Life and love are the same  
Life is Mizuno  
The oh so lovely name  
Toya sees you're the lovely one  
Rin agrees you're the pretty one _

_That's so very lovely made from love."_ Ke finished the song and looked over at Rei who was beaming. He hoped off stage and Rei hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Ke-sensei," she whispered.

"Hey now," Ke looked down. "Enough with the hugging. You're ruining my image."

"He never ceases to surprise me," Chiba smiled.

"He never ceases to confuse me," Yue rolled his eyes and Chiba laughed.

"All right, now for some real talent," Ke motioned towards Toya. "Are you guys going to play or what?"

"Hell yeah!" Shinji pumped his fist in the air. "Let's go!"

The four of them ran backstage to prepare. Rin grabbed Rei and Naruto's hands and pulled them up to the stage. Neji followed a little more calmly behind them. The jounin approached Ke.

"That was," Yue began.

"Really amazing," Ke finished. "I know. You don't have to tell me."

"You really are something," Kakashi said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ke said and looked over at Chiba who was smiling at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Chiba shrugged. "I'm just really happy the genin have you as a teacher. And I'm even happier that you have them as students."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ke asked and Chiba shrugged.

"They just, ground you. That's all." He smiled and could have sworn Ke rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"Excuse me," Toya's voice sounded over the microphone. He was front center with electric guitar in hand. Seji was beside him on backup guitar, Shinji behind on drums, and Gene on the other side on bass. "I don't know how we're going to follow that act but we're sure as hell going to try."

"This goes out to Rei, Rin, and our very own lead singer, Toya," Gene spoke up. "In case we don't see them for awhile."

The Hikage genin smiled. Shinji began to play the beat and the rest followed. Toya licked his lips and came up to the mic.

"_Give me a reason _

_To end this discussion  
To break with tradition.  
To fold and divide._

_Cause I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes,  
Talking with strangers, waiting in line..  
I'm through with these pills that make me sit still.  
"Are you feeling fine?" _Gene interjected and Toya answered him._  
"Yes, I feel just fine._

_Tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright.  
Oh please tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright._

_I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous  
Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires  
Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling  
Head for the hills, the kitchen's on fire!_

_I used to rely on self-medication,  
I guess I still do that from time to time.  
But I'm getting better at fighting the future.  
"Someday you'll be fine.." _Gene came in again._  
"Yes, I'll be just fine._

_Tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright.  
Oh please tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright._

_"Give me a reason," _Toya was belting.

"_I don't believe a word," _Gene came in._  
"To end this discussion." _

"_Of anything I've heard."_

"_To break with tradition."_

"_They tell me that it's not so hard."_

"_To fold and divide."_

"_It's not so hard."_

"_So let's not get carried." _

"_Away with everything."_

"_Away with the process." _

"_From here to in-between."_

"_Of elimination."_

"_The long goodbye."_

"_I don't want to waste your time." _Toya sang the chorus solo._"Tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright.  
Oh please tell me that you're alright,  
Yeah everything is alright.  
_

"_Alright,"_Gene came back in.

"_Tell me that you're alright," _Toya and him began to alternate again.

"_Hi, everything's great."_

"_Yeah everything is alright."_

"_Everything's fine."_

"_Oh please tell me that you're alright."_

"_Hi, everything's great."_

"_Yeah everything is alright." _

"_Everything's fine,"_ Gene finished and the small but still attentive crowd cheered. 

* * *

Ke's song is done to the tune of Stevie's Wonder "Isn't She Lovely?"

Reviews anyone???


	8. Chapter 7

Just a huge thanks to everyone who's read or reviewed my story! I really appreciate your comments and criticism and I'll definitely try and work on a few things in my writing. As for most of the questions/discrepencies noted in the reviews almost ALL of them will be answered in the next two installments of the series so don't worry and keep reading and reviewing!!!

Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

Neji easily blocked Tenten's punches. He fell back gracefully as she came at him with everything she had. She jumped back and panted heavily. 

"Relax Tenten. Wait, look for an opening, and then attack with the burning spirit of youth!" Gai gave her the thumbs up and Tenten rolled her eyes.

"He has a point," Neji shrugged and she glared at him. "You need to be more patient, wait for an opening instead of just attacking. Even Lee knows how to do that."

"Oh yeah," Tenten said defiantly and lunged towards him. "Wait around forever, just like you?!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Neji demanded as he blocked a hit aimed at his head.

"You know that Rei is in Konoha, right?" Tenten asked and ducked down to sweep his feet from under him. He jumped backwards avoiding the attack.

"Of course I know that, I was with her on her last mission," he said irritably and activated his Byakugan.

"Well then," Tenten pulled out a kunei and made some slices for his torso which he avoided. "Why haven't you seen her since you guys returned? It's been a week!"

"I've been a little busy," Neji said through gritted teeth as he avoided her blade. He blocked her strike at his neck, deflecting the blade and her hand. Then he struck her wrist with his index and middle finger. She winced in pain as she felt the chakra stop flowing in her hand. But she managed to smirk.

"I think it's cute that you're so shy, Neji-kun," she said and he blushed.

"What? I'm not-" He was cut off when she used her good hand to strike him to the ground.

"Whoo!" Lee pumped his fist in the air. "Go Tenten! Nice effort Neji!"

"That's strange," Gai muttered and Lee looked up at him.

"What is it, Gai-sensei?"

"Tenten has gotten stronger yes, but she should not have been able to defeat Neji that easily. She must have distracted him with something." Gai determined and Tenten sighed.

"Of course I was distracting him!" She yelled. "Didn't you hear any of our conversation? I was teasing him about Rei!"

"Rei?" Lee blinked. "The Hikage genin? Why was Tenten teasing you about her?"

"Because he likes her," Tenten informed and Neji blushed.

"I do not!" He yelled and walked out of the compound. He sat on the curb and breathed deep.

"Neji," Gai called as he came up behind him.

"What?" Neji muttered. Gai settled in beside him.

"Distractions aren't good for ninjas," Gai informed. "A ninja must be completely focused on his mission and the task at hand."

"I'm trying to ignore it," Neji sighed.

"Ignoring only increases the distraction, Neji," Gai disputed and he looked up in surprise. "Sometimes the only way to get rid of a distraction is confront it head on!"

He pumped his fist into the air as his eyes burned with passion and Neji sighed.

"Hey, Neji," Tenten appeared behind them. "Gai-sensei isn't the best person to take relationship advice from. You should ask a woman, like myself."

"Will everyone just leave me alone!" Neji yelled and stormed off.

"You should get her flowers!" Tenten yelled after him.

* * *

Neji walked alone down the streets of Konoha his intense gaze focused on the floor. He breathed in deep and replayed his sparring with Tenten. He was being careless and sloppy. She shouldn't have been able to defeat him that easily. But she distracted him effectively with Rei. He couldn't afford that in a real fight. 

"Neji."

Neji turned to see the stern face of his uncle, Hiashi. He walked towards his nephew who bore such a striking resemblance to himself they could have been father and son.

"What's wrong? You seemed distracted," Hiashi noted.

"It's nothing," Neji assured. "It will pass soon."

* * *

"Ke-sensei," Toya blinked in surprise when he opened his door. Ke presented a small cake to him in greeting and Toya took it eagerly before stepping aside to let Ke into the apartment. Ke looked around the apartment crammed full of instruments, sheets of music, as well as ninja scrolls, kunei, and shuriken. Ke shook his head and sighed. 

"Rin wasn't kidding when she said your apartment was a complete mess," he said shoving aside a box of bells so he could walk in.

"It's not a mess," Toya defended. "It's just cluttered."

"Yeah, sure," Ke picked up Toya's katana and wakizashi off of the floor. "You should take better care of these."

"Why?" Toya crossed his eyes and frowned at the weapons. "The only reason why I use them is because you insist I do. Can't I have a different-"

"I insist you use them because there has yet to be a better katana or wakizashi made. Even the seven swordsman of the Village Hidden in the Mist don't have better weapons," Ke cut him off sternly and Toya fell silent. Ke pulled their weapon's stand out of a box and set the two blades on the racks carefully. "Toya, it doesn't matter who used these blades before you. They shouldn't be judged by previous owners, only by their current owner and the strength of their material. And frankly, both are excellent. So you should wield them with pride."

"Yes, Ke-sensei," Toya nodded and gave a small smile. Ke reached to his back and pulled off two large scrolls attached to a strap he had on.

"Here. These should help with all of this stuff."

Toya caught one of the scrolls and Ke unrolled the other. He began to write a summoning spell on the scroll and Toya laughed.

"You want me to summon my instruments?"

"Hey," Ke looked up at him. "Who ever said you can't put your ninjutsu to practical use?"

"No one I guess," Toya shrugged and cocked his head. "What are you doing out in the daylight anyway?"

"Haha," Ke said sarcastically. "You're so funny. I'm just making a few rounds, that's all."

* * *

"Good morning," Rei smiled and Ke presented a box to her. She opened it and smiled brightly. "My favorite!" 

"You never could turn down sweets," Ke said and Rei led her into the apartment. "I'm glad to see you happy since you've been moping ever since we left Hikage. Even after I got up on stage and threw my dignity out the window. Makes me think you miss the village."

"No, it's not that, you know it's not that," Rei said quietly.

"Then what is it?"

"Everyone knows now, Neji knows."

"So?" Ke turned to her. "Rei, who gives a shit about your mother and what she did or thinks you should do. It doesn't matter where you came from or what other people say she's supposed to be. The only thing that matters is what you choose to do with your life."

"Are we talking about you or me, Ke-sensei?" Rei smirked as Ke ruffled her hair.

"This is a welcome surprise," Rin grinned as Ke handed her a plate of cookies.

"Freshly baked," Ke shrugged and walked into the younger ninja's apartment.

"Sometimes I wonder if you were more cut out to be a baker," Rin said as she bit into one of the cookies. "I swear, if the Ankokukage hadn't forced you into being a ninja, you'd have a bakery."

"What about you?" Ke asked and Rin looked up. "Did I force you into becoming a ninja?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When I sealed the Houkou in you, all those years ago, did I force a fate on you you didn't want?"

"Why the hell would you think that?" Rin asked and Ke shrugged.

"Naruto, I guess. He went though so much because he had the Kyuubi. And he didn't even know why. He didn't even choose his fate and neither did you. You never chose this burden."

"You never burdened me," Rin disagreed. "You saved me. If you didn't seal the Houkou in me and give me this extraordinary power I'd be in a Hikage brothel or worse.

"Ke-sesei, you're the best thing to ever happen to me. You took me in, gave me a family, and gave me strength. Don't let anyone make you think you burdened me, Rei, or Toya. You saved us all."

"Thank you, Rin," Ke ruffled her hair and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I may not owe you one, but I do owe another Jinchuuriki and apology," Ke said and waved goodbye.

* * *

"You do like this stuff, right?" Ke asked presenting the bag to Naruto when he opened the door. 

"Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto beamed when he opened the bag; however, suspicion quickly crossed his face. "What's this for?"

"A bribe to let me talk to you," Ke shrugged and Naruto let him in.

"What do you want to talk about?" Naruto asked.

"I want to apologize to you," Ke explained and leaned on his counter. "I didn't know who Orochimaru was to you and what information about him meant to you. I didn't mean to play with your emotions like that."

"Oh, yeah," Naruto remembered. "Whatever, it's fine."

"No, it's not," Ke shook his head. "I know how important bonds are Naruto. Before I knew Chiba and Yue I was completely alone."

"Because everyone thought you were a monster," Naruto interjected softly.

"Yeah," Ke nodded. "And now I have Rin, Rei and Toya. I would go to any length to bring those people back if they had left. And now, I will do anything I can do to help you bring Sasuke back."

"Why are you helping me?" Naruto asked.

"I grew up among demons. When I came to Hikage I came knowing people were going to hate me because they thought I was a monster. And I didn't care, I had been alone my entire life and I didn't care for human interaction. I didn't know how valuable bonds could be until I formed them with Chiba and Yue.

"But you, Naruto, you knew what bonds were your entire life. You never knew why people shunned you and denied you those bonds. You had to grow up watching the bonds between others and feel the sting of not having them. And you didn't even know why you couldn't have them. You didn't even know the Kyuubi was inside of you.

"I know what it's like to have these bonds now. To live without them without even knowing why is an unbearable thought to me. But you did."

Naruto stared at the ground in silence.

"When you finally formed your bonds, they must have been so important and precious. I know the value of my own bonds and can only imagine the value you place on your bond with Sasuke. So I'm gonna help you find him. I'll help you get that bond back."

"Thank you," Naruto smiled. "Ke-sensei."

* * *

Neji didn't even step back to help absorb Tenten's blow. She frowned and jumped back. Pulling out her scroll she summoned nunchucks and came at him. He easily evaded the attacks and landed his palm on her stomach. She collapsed the ground and coughed, feeling her chakra being constricted where he had struck. She narrowed her eyes and tried to sweep his legs out from under him but he easily avoided the attack by jumping away. She struggled up and lunged at him again. He caught her arms and they struggled, face to face. 

"Bet you'd like to be holding Rei's hand like this, eh Neji-kun?" Tenten smirked but Neji's expression was cold. He broke free of the hold and slammed her into the ground. He walked away from her towards Gai and Lee.

"Lee," Neji said as he passed them. "It's your turn."

"Oh," Lee frowned in concern. "Right, Neji."

"He seems more focused today," Gai noted as Lee watched Neji leave the compound.

"I guess he's not interested in Rei anymore," Tenten sighed as she dusted off her pants. "One less distraction."

"Bonds aren't a distraction," Lee disputed. "They only make you stronger. When you have someone to fight for is the only time you can fight at your strongest."

"That's right Lee," Gai put a hand on his shoulder and gave him the thumbs up. "Having someone to protect is what makes us ninja strong!"

"What?" Tenten crossed her arms. "Just the other day you said Rei was a distraction!"

"Hey Neji!" Naruto called and approached the jounin. "Have you seen Rei around?"

"No!" Neji's eyes narrowed in frustration. "I haven't seen her anywhere!"

"Well excuse me," Naruto frowned. "I just thought you were friends."

"Friendships only distract you, they make you weak," Neji muttered before turning to leave.

"You're wrong," Naruto called and Neji stopped. "You can only fight at your best potential when you have someone to fight for. It's the bond to that other person which drives you. Your need to protect them, your need to prove yourself to them, even your need to bring them back. I fight everyday to bring Sasuke back. That's what makes me strong, Neji."

"Thank you," Neji smiled slightly as he remembered something he had forgotten once again. "Naruto."

* * *

Rei stared out of Toya's window aimlessly as Rin sat beside her reading through a ninja scroll with the same bored expression. Toya slowly fingered his guitar muttering words. 

_"I'm a lazy lover  
Undercover  
Wasting time  
Then one day this summer  
I changed my number  
To cut my line_

_Good love is on the way  
I've been lonely I know I'll be ok  
Good love is on the way."_

"I like that song," Rei noted looking away from the window.

"Why?" Rin asked rolling up the scroll. "Because it's reassuring?"

"What are you talking about?" Rei's brow frowned.

"Maybe you should just ask him out because he's obviously not taking the initiative," Rin shrugged and Rei's frown deepened.

"Some guys like that," Toya shrugged still picking at his guitar. "He seems like that kind of guy."

"Really?" Rin asked. "You think so?"

"Who's that kind of guy?" Rei asked. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Yeah, he's fairly quiet and seems really focused on being a ninja. He's probably not very experienced in asking girls out," Toya shrugged.

"Good point," Rin nodded. "He may be that type of guy."

"WHO?!" Rei screamed and they looked at her in surprise.

"Neji, duh," Rin rolled her eyes and Rei blushed.

"Neji? Why would he ever ask me out or for that matter say yes if I asked him out?"

"Because he likes you," Toya said.

"He has no interest in me, at all," Rei insisted sadly.

"Notice how she didn't say she didn't have an interest in him?" Rin whispered to Toya who nodded.

"You know what," Rei stood up. "I'm tired; I think I'll go home."

"You gonna go see Neji now?" Rin called as she walked towards the door.

"No!" Rei called back. "I am just trying to get away from you two. I am definitely not going to see-"

Rei swung the door open and stopped suddenly. Neji's fist was poised in the air, just about to knock on the door she had opened.

"Neji?" Rei blinked and he immediately put his hand down.

"Rei," he began as his cheeks grew warm. "I went to your apartment but your neighbor said you were here and I just was wondering, I mean, if you have the time…Have you eaten yet?"

"No," Rei answered quickly. "No, I haven't."

"Well, do you want to? I mean, with me," Neji took in a deep breath and regrouped. "Do you want to get some lunch?"

"Yeah," Rei smiled, "I would really like that, Neji."

"Okay," Neji smiled in return and stepped aside to let her through.

"Bout time," Rin rolled her eyes and opened up her scroll.

"Seriously," Toya added and took up his guitar again. "_Good love is on the way  
I've been lonely, lonely, lonely, yeah  
Good love is on the way  
I've been lonely but I know I'll be ok  
Good love is on the way  
Oh, Good love is on the way, hey."_

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Ke pointed to the pot in Kakashi's hands when he appeared at Ke's apartment door. 

"It's a house warming plant," Kakashi explained and walked in.

"What's it for?" Ke asked closing the door.

"Well, I don't know how it worked in Hikage. But here in Konoha it's customary for good citizens to welcome new additions to the village with housewarming gifts. It's not a big deal, all it needs is sunlight and water." Kakashi looked around the apartment and saw a window sill with a plant already on it. "See, you already have a plant. This one shouldn't be a big deal."

He walked over to the sill and put the plant down.

"Wait!" Ke yelled but it was too late. The plant already on the sill twitched as vines shot out, wrapping around Kakashi's plant. His plant quickly withered and Kakashi jumped back in shock. Ke came up and picked up his plant, dumping it in the trash.

"What the hell was that?!" Kakashi demanded.

"This," Ke pointed to the attacker. "It's a type of demon plant. It feeds off the chakra of normal plants and small animals. I brought it back with me from Hikage."

"Why the hell would you have something like that around?!"

"It takes care of all the bugs," Ke shrugged and Kakashi sighed.

"You're going to take a lot of getting used to," he determined and Ke laughed.

"That's the story of my life," Ke said.

"It might help if you took off that mask," Kakashi said.

"I like my mask," Ke defended.

"Why? The Ankokukage was the one who made you wear it in the first place."

"Bero has a big mouth, I see," Ke crossed his arms.

"Why did he do it?"

"Huh?"  
"Why did the Ankokukage put you into that mask?" Kakashi asked and Ke crossed his arms behind his head in thought.

"I guess he did it to make people afraid of me. That way I would be alone and hated in the world."

"Then why don't you take the mask off?"

"Because then people wouldn't be afraid of me. They'd try and be my friend and like me," Ke said and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "What about yours?"  
"This?" Kakashi touched his own black mask and tapped his cheek with his finger. Shrugging he smiled with his eyes. "I've worn it so long I've forgotten why I put it on in the first place."

"Wow," Ke nodded approvingly. "I never thought I'd meet someone more guarded than me."

"I'm full of surprises," Kakashi shrugged.

"Ke-sama!" Hake called as he struggled to come in through the window.

"Hake?" Ke questioned and lifted him up into his arms. Scratching under his chin he said, "I thought you were staying back in Hikage."

"Hikage is boring without you, Ke-sama," Hake waved a paw in dismissal and Ke laughed. "I have some big news!"

"What?" Ke cocked his head.

"Rei's on a date!"

"What?" Ke's voice dropped an octave.

* * *

"Hey Naruto," Toya greeted and let the Konoha genin into his apartment. 

"Toya, I have an idea to help Konoha accept you guys better," Naruto informed.

"I don't know," Toya shrugged. "Everyone has been pretty nice so far."

"Yeah, but you're still not part of Konoha," Naruto protested. "I know what it's like to be an outsider. I don't want the same to happen to you guys."

"All right," Toya's face softened. "What's your idea?"

"You'll put on a concert!"

"A concert?!" Toya's voice flooded with alarm. "No way, no freaking way, Naruto."

"Why not? You were awesome back at the trading post bar!"

"Yeah, because there were what? Ten people in the room?! I'm not willing to embarass myself in front of all of Konoha, Naruto!"

"Embarrass yourself? What are you talking about?! You're amazing!"

"Hey, hey, what's all the yelling about?" Rin asked as she came into the room.

"I think Toya should put on a concert for Konoha," Naruto explained and Rin's face lit up.

"That's a great idea!" She exclaimed and Toya frowned.

"Traitor," he muttered.

"Here," Rin ran over to one of the many unpacked boxes in Toya's apartment. "Help me pick out some music."

"I never agreed to this!" Toya yelled.

"I think you should play some classics and throw in a few of your original stuff too," Rin continued ignoring him.

* * *

"How do you guys like Konoha so far?" Neji asked as he and Rei walked along the street. 

"It's much better than Hikage, although I made it a point not to go there too often," Rei said.

"Yeah, now I know why," Neji said and Rei fell silent. He faltered when he realized what he had said and bit his lip. Frowning at her downcast eyes he nudged her. "Rei, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"But-" Rei protested and Neji shook his head.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he repeated and she smiled.

"I wasn't with my mother for very long anyway," Rei said. "Ke found me when I was five. I don't even remember her that well."

"Why did Ke choose you?"

"Kitsuke smelled the blood of the Tatsu clan in me," Rei said.

"The Tatsu clan? The guardian clan? But they died out hundreds of years ago," Neji protested.

"Apparently not," she shrugged. "My father, whoever he was, had the blood still in his veins when he came to Hikage. That's how I got it. Kitsuke smelled the blood in me and Ke-sensei took me to Hikage forest."

"Was that demon forest really any better than the village?" Neji asked skeptically.

"Of course it was!" She protested. "You saw the home Ke-sensei made for us. The demons were nothing compated to the villagers and chuunin of Hikage. And Ke-sensei did everything in his power to protect us from all of those evils."

"I'm sorry," Neji apologized. "I didn't mean to offend."

"It's fine," Rei dismissed. They walked in silence until Rei noticed they were passing by Naruto's apartment. "So I heard Naruto beat you in a Chuunin exam."

"Who did you hear that from?!" Neji demanded and Rei giggled.

* * *

"Is this really necessary?" Kakashi asked as he leaned against the ledge next to Ke. They were perched on the buildings of Konoha watching Rei and Neji as they walked the streets below. 

"I didn't ask you to come," Ke answered and continued to watch the younger ninjas below.

"I'm only here to make sure you didn't hurt Neji. He's very valuable to Konoha."

"I won't hurt him," Ke promised. "Unless he does something stupid."

"That's not very assuring," Kakashi muttered.

"Isn't this perfect?" Gai put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and he looked at Gai in surprise.

"Gai?" He questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"I noticed you to up here and wanted to see what you were doing," Gai explained. "Then I noticed you were watching my cute student! Isn't the springtime of youth with love in the air beautiful?"

"Sure, as long as the springtime of youth keeps his hands where I can see them," Ke answered with his eyes still trained on Neji.

"See Lee?" Tenten leaned over the edge beside Gai. "It's okay for us to watch Neji if Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei are both here."

"I do not know Tenten," Lee shook his head. "Something about this just does not feel right. It feels dishonorable."

"That's because it is," Kakashi informed.

Neji and Rei reached her apartment building and she turned to him and smiled brightly.

"Thank you for lunch, Neji," she said.

"I enjoyed it a lot," Neji smiled back. "We should do it again."

"Definitely," she waved and turned. She paused before she reached the steps and bit her lip. Turning around suddenly she kissed Neji on the cheek before running up the stairs. Neji touched his cheek in shock before a smile crept into his face.

"Wooh!" Lee pumped his fist into the air and Neji looked up to see all of them watching. "Go Neji!"

"That's it! Truly embrace the springtime of youth!" Gai's eyes were aflame.

"Lee! Gai-sensei!" Tenten yelled exasperated with her comrades. Neji's eyes narrowed on the group of them. "You totally blew our cover!"

* * *

"These instruments are so cool," Naruto noted as he fingered the brass keys of Toya's saxophone. 

"Please, Naruto," Toya begged. "Be more careful, these instruments are really delicate!"

"I know, I know," Naruto assured. He reached forward to press down a key and succeeded in knocking the instrument off of the pedestal. Toya's mouth dropped open at the sound and sight of the instrument crashing to the floor. Naruto rubbed his head and smiled in apology. "Hope that one wasn't too delicate."

"Naruto," Toya said through gritted teeth and held up his fist.

"Hey Toya," Rin interrupted with sheets of music in hand. "You should play these ones, they're sure to be crowd pleasers."

"Again," Toya grabbed the music out of her hands. "I'm not doing this stupid con-"

"Hey!" Rei yelled as she entered the apartment. "Hey Naruto!"

"Hey Rei! Where have you been?" Naruto greeted.

"On a date," Rin smiled. "With Neji."

"Neji?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Neji asked you out?"

"Yeah," Rei smiled. "And it went great."

"Oh, Naruto, you need to tell Rei your idea!" Rin tugged on his sleeve.

"Right," Naruto nodded remembering. "I was thinking that Toya could put on a music concert for Konoha. That way the villagers will get to know you all and accept you better."

"That's a great idea!" Rei clapped her hands and Toya frowned.

"You're all traitors," he muttered.

* * *

"Come in," Tsunade called as she leafed through papers. Ke popped his mask in the door and Tsunade waved him in. 

"Hokage-sama," Ke greeted.

"I called you here to see how you and the genin were adjusting to Konoha," Tsunade put her papers away and focused on the Hikage jounin.

"The genin love it," Ke said. "They actually have people they can interact with. They're making a lot of new…friends."

"Yes, I heard about Rei's date with Neji," Tsunade smiled.

"Damn, this is a tiny village," Ke said surprised. "Word gets around."

"Well, I do like to stay informed. So, the genin are getting along just fine. What about you?"

"Me?" Ke asked then shrugged. "I dunno, it's all a little more human then I'm used to."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Tsunade raised an eyebrow and Ke shrugged again. "What? What is it?"

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama," Ke began. "The demons I've met have treated me better than most of the humans I've met."

"I hope that begins to change now that you're in Konoha, Ke." Tsunade said.

"It already has, Hokage-sama," Ke said and she smiled.

"I also hope Toya's concert will help assimilate you and the genin more," Tsunade added and picked up her papers again.

"Concert?" Ke questioned. "What concert?"

* * *

Toya leafed through music as he sat on his bed with his guitar in his lap. He sighed and looked out the window. "What have I gotten myself into?" 

"Yo," Ke's mask appeared in the window and Toya brightened.

"Ke-sensei," he greeted and slid the window open, allowing him to hop in the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just had an interesting talk with Hokage-sama," Ke informed. "You're putting on a concert?"  
"Apparently," Toya frowned. "It was Naruto's idea, not mine."

"Ah," Ke nodded. "And are you okay with putting on this concert?"  
"I guess," he shrugged. "It may help Konoha accept us."

"Konoha will accept you on its own time if it hasn't already. You already have made a bunch of friends here, right?" Ke asked and Toya nodded. "The most important thing is you don't do anything you don't want to do to please the people around you. So, do you want to do this?"

"I dunno," Toya looked at the floor. "I really don't."

"Would it help if I said I contacted Seji, Shinji, and Gene to come up and play in your backup band?" Ke asked and Toya's face lit up.

"Really?!" Are you serious Ke-sensei?!"

"Hey, I may viciously kill people and live among demons but I never lie," Ke assured. "So, do you want to do it?"

"Yeah," Toya nodded. "I think I do."

"All right then," Ke nodded. "Just remember, don't change for them."

"You certainly haven't," Toya said. "You still wear that stupid mask."

"Jeez, will everyone just lay off on the damn mask," Ke sighed and grabbed Toya's music out of his hand. "What are you playing anyway? I don't want you to embarrass me out there. Let's hear what you've got so far."

"Okay," Toya nodded happily and picked up his guitar.

* * *

"A concert?" Kisame questioned as he and Itachi stood outside Konoha.

"Yeah," Itachi nodded and Kisame turned his beady eyes upon the village.

"Then they'll all be distracted soon."

"Yeah," Itachi said and Kisame smirked.

* * *


	9. Chapter 8

Okay, so this is a suuuuuuuuper long chapter (the longest chapter in the story so far!) but I hope you really enjoy it! And if you don't or even if you do please review!

* * *

"Whoa," Toya breathed in deep when he peeked out from backstage. It looked like all of Konoha had turned out for the concert. "I can't do this."

"Hey, Toya!" Naruto greeted as he and Sakura approached. Naruto frowned at the panicked expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"There are a lot of freaking people out there," Toya said.

"What? You can fight and live among demons with out even blinking and you can't face a few people?"

"A few people?!" Toya's voice raised. "A few hundred people you mean! Have you seen the size of that crowd! It's freaking huge! I can't do this!"

"Toya!" Shinji called as he slung his friend around Toya's shoulders. "Have you seen the crowd man? It's freaking huge! This is going to be amazing!"

"Yeah, amazing," Toya said sarcastically.

"C'mon," Shinji pulled him to the stage. "It's almost time."

"Don't worry, Toya," Naruto assured giving him the thumbs up. "You'll be great."

"We know you will," Sakura smiled and Toya gave a weak smile in return. He walked onto stage and sat down at the piano. He pulled the mic closer to his mouth and took in a deep breath. Nodding to the person manning the curtains Toya braced himself. The red drapes parted revealing all of Konoha. He blinked at the mass of bodies, all waiting for him. Then the thought struck him. They all came out…for him. They were here for him. He smiled and stood up grabbing the mic off of its stand.

"Hello Konoha!" His voice echoed over the crowd. "First and foremost I would like to thank you all so much for coming out to see me and my band play. You've really welcomed me and my friends from Hikage into your village. You've made this place feel like a real home for us, and for that we thank you."

He walked back to his piano and sat down replacing the mic. "For my first song, I would like to play a song about starting anew.

_"You swear you recall nothing at all  
That could make you come back down  
You made up your mind to leave it all behind  
Now you're forced to fight it out_

_You fall away from your past  
But it's following you  
you fall away from your past  
But it's following you_

_You left something undone, it's now your rerun  
It's the one you can't erase  
You should have made it right, so you wouldn't have to fight  
To put a smile back on your face_

_You fall away from your past  
But it's following you  
You fall away from your past  
But it's following you_

_You fall away  
You fall away_

_Something I've done that I can't outrun  
Something I've done that I can't outrun  
Maybe you should wait maybe you should run  
But there's something you've said that can't be undone_

_And you fall away from your past  
But it's following you_

_You fall away  
It's following you!" _

"That was so amazing!" Sakura beamed from backstage.

"He's doing great," Naruto agreed. "Nothing can mess this up."

"What do mean the lights don't work?" The stage manager asked one of the stage hands who merely shrugged.

"There's a short, so they won't move on their own," he explained and the manager ran his hand through his hair.

"This isn't good, he wanted those lights for the next song," he bit his lip.

"What's wrong?" Naruto demanded and the stage hand turned to him.

"The lights won't move," he repeated.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Sakura asked. "It'll ruin Toya's entire performance if those lights don't work."

"Not unless there are about twelve more of you and one of you is strong enough to hoist the lights up manually," the stage hand said sarcastically. Naruto and Sakura just smiled.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto crossed his fingers before him and eleven more of him appeared. "Let's go Sakura!"

"Right!" She said and they ran towards the lights. "Get on Naruto!"

The twelve Narutos assembled themselves on the lights, one clone for each light.

"All right," Sakura cracked her fingers. "Here we go!"

She grabbed onto the rope holding the lights and began to pull. The pulley started to roll and the lights began to rise slowly into the air. The Narutos gripped the lights tightly as the shaky lights made their way up into the air.

"Can you be a little more gentle, Sakura?" Naruto asked and Sakura glared at him.

"You try lifting these lights and twelve of you into the air and see how you like it!" She yelled back and Naruto flinched. With one last tug the lights clanged into place and the Narutos began to twist them around letting the lights shine out into the audience and over the village as the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

Toya stepped out from his piano and slung his guitar over him. Approaching a mic towards the center he licked his lips. "And to celebrate my new home, here is a song dedicated to you all.  
"_I think I'm gonna stay home  
Have myself a home life  
Sitting in the slow-mo  
And listening to the daylight  
I am not a nomad  
I am not a rocket man  
I was born a housecat  
By the slight of my mother's hand_

_I think I'm gonna stay home_

_I want to live in the center of a circle  
I want to live on the side of a square  
I used to be in my M to Z now  
You'll never find me cause my name isn't there_

_Home life  
Been holding out for the home life  
My whole life_

_I want to see the end game  
I want to learn her last name  
Finish on a Friday  
And sit in traffic on the highway  
See, I refuse to believe  
That my life's gonna be  
Just some string of incompletes  
Never to lead me to anything remotely close to a home life_

_Been holding out for the home life  
My whole life_

_I can tell you this much  
I will marry just once  
And if it doesn't work out  
Give her half of my stuff  
It's fine with me  
We said eternity  
I will go to my grave  
With the love that I gave  
Not just some melody line  
On a radio wave  
It dissipates  
And soon evaporates  
But home life doesn't change_

_I want to live in the center of a circle  
I want to live on the side of a square  
I'd love to walk to where we both can talk but  
I've got to leave you 'cause my ride is here_

_Home life  
You take the home life  
You keep the home life  
I'll come back for the home life  
I promise…"_

Naruto glanced down at Sakura who gave him the thumbs up, he smiled in return.

* * *

"This looks like as good a spot as any," Kisame looked around the empty forest. Forming hand seals and then thrusting his palm to the ground he yelled, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A demon with red eyes, yellow fur, and long fangs appeared before him. Despite it towering over him, Kisame didn't even flinch. He turned and rested his Samehada on his shoulder. Glancing back he called, "Remember the deal with made back in Hikage."

The cat demon's eyes glinted dangerously before bounding off into the forest.

* * *

"What?!" Tsunade thundered and the chuunin stepped back, frightened. "A demon in the forest? Again?!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he nodded nervously. "We just got reports in of it appearing at the very outskirts but it's moving towards the village fast."

"I see," Tsunade sat back down, her calm demeanor returning. The unfortunate chuunin breathed a sigh of relief. "Shizune!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune spoke immediately.

"Cancel the concert, order all civilians to the safe houses. Then have all remaining ninja report to their defensive positions. Inform Ke of the situation and have him handle it at his own discretion."

"But, can we really trust him with something like this?" Shizune asked and Tsunade shrugged.

"We need to start acting like he is a Konoha jounin. Think of this as his test, although I think he'll pass just fine," Tsunade smiled.

* * *

"Anything?" Ke asked as Hake emerged from the underbrush of Konoha forest. He scratched behind his ear and shook his head.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "But there is something off, I can smell it."

"Yeah, it reeks in here," Rin's nose wrinkled.

"So, where is this thing?" Toya looked around the forest.

"It's a cat demon," Ke announced. "I can smell that much."

"They're pretty good at hiding, right Ke-sensei," Rei asked and Ke nodded.

"Yeah, but they're not that bad to fight on. They're quick and agile but they're not nearly as strong as they look. If we split up we should be able to find it faster and we can still handle it if we face it one on one," Ke said. "Let's go."

"Right," the genin nodded and disappeared into the woods.

"Hake," Ke called and the small demon looked up at him. "Keep an eye out."

"Yes, Ke-sama," he nodded before Ke disappeared into the woods.

* * *

"Never saw a cat demon with gills."

Kisame looked up and smiled at Toya who was glaring down at him from the trees.

"Impressive," Kisame pushed off of the tree he was leaning on and nodded approvingly. "You were able to sneak up on me without me even noticing."

"Where's the demon?" Toya demanded and Kisame laughed.

"You're direct," he bared his sharp teeth. "I like it. That cat demon? It was just a ruse to get the Houkou out of Konoha."

"You're after Rin?" Toya's eyes narrowed as he focused in on Kisame's clothing. "You're a member of Akatsuki, aren't you?"

"You're quick too," Kisame was impressed. "You're not the one we're after but you'll certainly provide some entertainment."

Kisame heaved his heavy sword off his shoulder and stepped towards Toya. Toya's eyes narrowed as he unsheathed his katana, "You shouldn't underestimate me."

* * *

Rin jumped down from the trees and paused at the small clearing in the woods; she sniffed the air and frowned. "I could have sworn I smelled something."

She stepped forward and felt a pressure against her ankle. She jumped back into the trees avoiding the kunei which hurtled towards the ground. They buried into her previously occupied space next to the thin wire she had tripped. A cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows.

"I figured a cat demon didn't set a kunei trap," Rin cocked an eyebrow. "Who the hell are you?"

Itachi glanced up at her focusing his red eyes on her. His eyes narrowed, _she's the one. _

Rin shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. It felt as if he had just learned every nuance of her life by just glancing at her. Itachi's hand darted out from his cloak and flung shurikens towards her. She dodged them and ran down the tree towards him.

"Hyah!" She yelled and attacked with a barrage of punches which he dodged fairly easily. She kicked upwards and he blocked with one hand. She frowned and brought up her other leg landing a hit on his blocking arm. She continued the arc into a backflip and crouched before launching herself at him again. She tried to land a kick in his side but he blocked again. This time he clamped his arm down and trapped her leg against him. In retaliation she used her free leg to pound his midsection until he let go of her. She flipped backwards again and fell into a defensive stance. He straightened and glared at her. Rin frowned, she didn't make a scratch on him. She breathed and regrouped.

Reaching into her pack she pulled out a kunei and flung it towards him. He jumped back to avoid it. Rin flashed behind him and smirked when his red eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise. She landed a downward kick onto his shoulder. She felt the satfifying crack of…smoke?

Rin blinked as the shadow clone dissipated before her. "When did he replace himself with a clone? Dammit, this guy's good."

* * *

Toya pointed his sword towards Kisame who laughed maniacally.

"You think that little toothpick can hold a candle to Samehada?" He asked bringing his sword forward.

"I told you not to underestimate me," Toya warned as his sword began to glow blue. He continued to feed his chakra into it until it grew to the size of the Samehada. He lunged forward and Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Eager, aren't you?" He snickered. "And cocky to try a head on attack!"

Kisame prepared to easily block Toya's attack. Just before Toya was about to lunge he disappeared. Kisame blinked in surprise. Before he could react Toya appeared behind him and sliced downwards. Kisame fell into a puddle.

"Dammit," Toya frowned at the defeated water clone.

"You're fast," Kisame stepped out from the forest shadows. "I'm almost impressed you can wield that sword and move so quickly."

"Too much talking," Toya said and lunged again aiming his blows towards Kisame's head. But Kisame was equally fast and continually dodged Toya's slices. Toya's face frowned with frustration as he increased his speed. He reached to his side and pulled out his wakizashi. He fed his chakra into the second blade and immediately began to slice with the two blades. He drove Kisame back and gave one last push throwing him off balance. Toya jumped up and brought the two blades down to finish him off.

Kisame smirked and brought the Samehada up to block the attack. The blades crashed and Toya gritted his teeth. How the hell could this guy be so damn fast with that huge sword? Toya's eyes narrowed in concentration. He began to feed more chakra into the blades and the chakra around the blades began to move back in forth in a sawing motion. He gritted his teeth and pushed the blades down on Samehada, trying to saw through the blade. But Kisame's grin just widened. The bluish light began to fade from Toya's blades and his eyes opened in shock. He jumped back when he felt the chakra from his own body begin to drain.

He studied his blades in wonder and then looked at Kisame accusingly. "What the hell did you do?"

"Samehada is hungry," Kisame began to chuckle. "And he loves fresh chakra."

"That sword feeds off of chakra?" Toya's eyes widened. He grimaced in realization that most of his attacks with his blades would be close enough for the sword to suck his chakra away. He sheathed his blades and began to back away slowly.

"Running away already?" Kisame grinned but this time Toya matched his grin.

"Hardly," he formed seals quickly. "Light element: Blinding Flash!"

A bright flash emanated from his hands and Kisame threw his hands in front of his face to block the light. But the rays seemed to pierce his very flesh and burn his eyes out.

"Shit," Kisame muttered as the black spots refused to clear from his vision. "Troublesome little brat."

Toya drew his katana again and ran straight for the blinded ninja. Kisame's head perked up and he brought the Samehada up again to block Toya's attack.

"Shit!" Toya yelled as he felt his chakra disappearing. He jumped back and put some distance between them. He studied Kisame who was still groping around blindly. "How the hell did he know I was going to attack?"

A bird sprung from the trees above them and Kisame's head perked up with Samehada ready. Toya's eyes widened in realization, _He can hear me._

"Where are you?! Come here, you little brat," Kisame took a few steps forward. Toya pulled a scroll out of his pouch as a smile grew on his face.

_If it's sound he's sensitive to. _Toya unraveled the scroll and activated the summoning seals, a guitar appeared from the smoke and he gripped it. Closing his eyes in concentration he focused his chakra into the instrument. _If I can focus my chakra into the sound waves. _

He began to play the guitar and the melody started to echo in the forest. He smiled as the sound seemed to be coming from all different directions. Kisame began to turn wildly as he became increasingly frustrated. Toya began to play louder as the older ninja began to swipe wildly in the air.

Kisame brought his sword to his side and took in a deep breath. Toya raised an eyebrow,_what is he doing? _Kisame paused before opening his mouth wide. Toya jumped at the gallons of water which began to stream out of his mouth onto the forest floor.

The water began to rise around Toya's feet and Toya looked down in alarm at the rising water. When he looked up Kisame's fist was hurtling towards his face. Toya was thrown backwards by the force of the blow and skidded across the water surface. His guitar flung away and sank. He channeled chakra into his hands and used them to pull himself from the water and stood shakily on the surface. Kisame cackled again.

"That was a clever idea at first," he shook his head in approval. "That is until I covered this entire place with water. Now I can sense your movements through the vibrations in the water. Toya looked down at his feet which were creating tiny waves in the water.

"Well, if that's the case," Toya said and crouched. He jumped into the air and landed in one of the trees. He crouched down and looked down at Kisame intently. He jerked in shock, something was coming, but Kisame was in plain sight. Toya was smacked out of the tree by a wave. He fell to the water's surface and sputtered.

"Stupid boy," Kisame laughed. "I can feel your heartbeat through the water because you're in contact with the tree which is touching the water. Even if you jumped into the air I would feel the vibrations because even the air and water are in contact!"

Toya grimaced and put his hands up. "Release!"

Kisame blinked as his vision began to clear and smiled at Toya. "Giving up already?"

"Sure," Toya shrugged and made more hand signs. "Shadow element: Blind fear!"

"Too slow!" Kisame declared as he appeared behind Toya and brought the Samehada down. Toya reacted quickly and blocked the blow with his katana. Toya shook under the crushing force of the Samehada. It didn't help that his chakra was being drained away from him every second. Toya's knees began to buckle and he fell to one knee. Kisame's grin grew to maniacal standards.

"Give up, boy," he sneered and Toya's eyes narrowed. He boosted his chakra into one arm and used the others to form hand signs.

"Shadow element: dark escape!"

Toya sank into one of the many shadows created by the trees. Kisame slammed his Samehada into the water creating waves in anger. He breathed deep and concentrated waiting for any disturbances in the water. To the left!

He swung Samehada and sliced box in half. Kisame reached into the water as the box sank below the surface. He inspected the device. "A radio?"

He felt another disturbance and sliced again only to cut one more radio in half. "Dammit. He's using the vibrations from the radios to confuse me. You can't do this forever! Sooner or later you need to attack me!"

"Shadow element: Eternal night of shadows!" Toya's voice reverberated from around the woods. The sky above began to grow dark and stars began to peep through the night. Kisame' eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Boy!" He yelled. "Don't you know it's useless by now?!"

A shadow flashed past Kisame and he turned around but the shadow was gone. Another flashed behind him but disappeared before he could catch it. Kisame's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell can't I feel his movements?!"

Just then the realization dawned on Kisame. "I'm trapped in a genjutsu. That sneaky little brat!"

The shadows began to increase in number and circle Kisame. He gripped his Samehada tightly and searched the group of shadows for any sign of Toya but found none. He clapped his hands together and concentrated his chakra in an attempt to break the genjutsu. He released the chakra but the shadows remained.

"My genjutsu can't be broken so easily," Toya's voice sounded again. "And you have no partner here to break the genjutsu for you. So this, is the end!"

Toya lunged from the trees his katana poised above his head. Kisame stood below unknowing of the danger and Toya smirked. He sliced through Kisame's torso. He closed his eyes ready for the spray of blood and felt the liquid on his face. It was…cold? Toya opened his eyes to see Kisame melt into water.

"That was a water clone?" Toya's mouth fell open. In his shock he didn't realize the impending danger. One of Kisame's water clones appeared behind him and dissolved into water which trapped Toya in a bubble of water. He struggled in vain but the pressure was too great and was crushing the breath out of him. He coughed letting his precious air out into the water bubble. Kisame rose out of the water in front of him and laughed.

"You actually thought you had me?" He chuckled. "Although I'll admit you were some fun you were no match for me."

He raised Samehada above his head and smirked before bringing it down slicing through the bubble and slicing through Toya's front. Toya's eyes widened in shock as the water collapsed around him. His knees buckled as he fell to the water, his sword splashing to his side. He sank down through the water. Kisame rested Samehada on his shoulder and looked down at Toya's still body.

"I could just finish you off, but I think it'd be more fun to leave you here and let you bleed to death," he grinned maniacally as Toya's blood seeped out into the water around his body. He stepped forward and nudged Toya's body with his foot making sure he was finished. When Toya didn't respond Kisame smirked and walked off into the woods leaving Toya to tint the water red with blood.

* * *

Rin's eyes darted around the forest wildy, _Sneaky bastard, he would hide away. _She held her index and middle finger up to her face and concentrated. She inhaled deeply as the forest came alive through smell. She sniffed again. She whirled around and hurled a kunei into the woods. The kunei imbedded itself into Itachi's chest. Rin smile fell into a frown when he disappeared into smoke.

"What the hell?!" She demanded. "Why couldn't I smell the difference?!"

"Enough playtime," Itachi announced as he appeared behind her. "I'm running out of patience."

"I agree," Rin smiled as a chakra whip erupted from the ground in front of Itachi and wrapped around his ankle. He looked down at it in disdain as he brought a kunei out and tried to cut it. He frowned when it wouldn't cut.

"Pure chakra," he noted as his eyes focused in on the whip.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool what it can do," Rin said as she yanked at the edge and pulled him through the earth towards her. He erupted from the soil and glared at but she was already ready her palm facing him. She shot blasts of chakra from her hand and they crashed into him driving him back. She released the chakra whip and continued to fire smashing him into the trees. Rin exhaled and put her hand down.

"Guess that's taken care of," she smirked. But her victory was short lived when Itachi emerged from the woods. Rin's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't even scratch him."

"That was fun," Itachi nodded and Rin frowned. But she didn't have much time to be upset. The ground beneath her began to swirl and engulf her. She aimed a chakra blast down and broke free, jumping into the trees away from danger.

"When the hell did he make hand signs for a ninjutsu?" She asked as the ground continued to swirl. It would have swallowed her whole.

"I guess I was too fast for you," Itachi's voice sounded in her ear. She turned in shock to see Itachi's red eyes right next to her. He landed a punch right in her stomach and she flew backwards digging up a trench in the ground. She struggled to her feet wheezing.

"Damn, he's a lot stronger than he looks," she said looking up at him.

"Don't underestimate me," his voice sounded from behind her but before she could turn around he shoved a spiraling ball of chakra into her back hissing, "Rasengan."

Rin skidded across the earth again as the pain bit through her back. She touched the wound gingerly and winced at the pain. She stared angrily at Itachi.

"That was compliments of your friend, the Kyuubi," he said and she gritted her teeth. Earth exploded around her and came down in four pillars onto her head. She looked up and spread chakra around her, creating a shield. The dust cleared as the earth crumbled around her shield. Itachi inspected the defense. "A chakra shield? You seem to have a lot of chakra to waste, Hokou."

"You really want to see my chakra?" Rin panted and broke out into a cocky smile. "Do you really?"

Itachi took a step back as he felt her chakra begin to rise. Rin's teeth began to sharpen into fine points as her eyes slitted. Her hair greyed to white and began to spread over her body. She glared at him.

"I said," she said with bared fangs. "Do you really want to see my chakra?!"

A blast of blue chakra erupted from her and Itachi threw his hand in front to shield himself. He uncovered himself when the dust settled and his red eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Rin had been replaced with a giant white dog that towered over the trees. Itachi's eyes narrowed further when he saw the dog's eyes were still lavender.

"She still is in complete control, despite being fully transformed. She's been trained well," he noted before Rin clamped her jaws down upon him. He exploded into smoke and reappeared above her forming hand signs quickly. Small fireballs erupted from his mouth and shot down towards her. Her second tail twitched before sending a gust of wind towards the fireballs dissolving them. Itachi frowned and landed on a branch. Rin's eyes focused in on him before bounding towards him. She opened her mouth wide as a beam of pure chakra shot towards him destroying all in its path. Unfortunately, he managed to get out of the way in time. He gazed down at the white dog as its fur bristled in his direction. It once again turned its cold lavender eyes upon him.

"Looks like her senses have increased as well," Itachi noted as the dog twitched its fourth tail sending a bolt of lightning towards him. He again dodged and quickly formed hand signs shooting a huge fireball at the beast. He managed to singe her fur and Rin howled in pain. He ran towards her and continued to shoot flaming blasts. Each connected driving Rin back into the woods. She reared back and fell over onto her side. He took advantage of her state and jumped up above her inhaling to prepare the final blast. Before he could exhale, however, her eyes sprang open and glared at him. With a sweep of her tails she flung him back into the forest. He flipped in midair and landed effortlessly on the ground. He straightened and brushed the dirt off of his cloak.

She stood up and pawed the ground in anticipation as she stared him down. His eyes narrowed.

"This is taking far too long," he determined as she began to run towards him. He concentrated chakra into his eyes. "Very well then."

Rin ran towards Itachi and clamped her jaws down on his form, finally feeling his warm flesh between her teeth. She grinded her jaws to make sure he was dead. She felt the blood drip down her jaw and…wrap around her teeth? Her large lavender eyes widened when she felt Itachi's dismembered body wrap around her teeth and tongue. His remains had transformed into snakes which were quickly tightening down her mouth. She struggled against the snakes but to no avail.

Her heart began to beat faster as the snakes began to creep outside of her mouth and wrap around her jaw. Wait…what if the snakes couldn't fit in her mouth. She closed her eyes and began to shrink. As she returned to her human form the snakes fell from her onto the ground and squirmed. She jumped away from them into the branches and aimed chakra blasts at them. They burnt to a crisp and she sighed in relief.

"Guess that was his trump card," she deduced. "When he dies he turns into snakes in a last ditch effort to destroy his enemy."

"Not quite," Itachi voice hissed in her ear. She turned to meet his red eyes and was frozen by the stare. "Tsukuyomi."

Rin flinched as she looked around the empty space surrounding her. All she could see was black; the trees and forest had disappeared along with Itachi. She looked around frantically as her heartbeat began to race. "What the hell is going on here?"

She took in a deep breath and tried to calm down. She held her index finger up to her face and concentrated the chakra into her nose. Just focus on your other senses. Focus and breathe, focus and breathe. Her eyes snapped open and she threw her hand away from her face. "Dammit I can't smell anything! Where the hell are you! You goddamn bastard! Come out and face me like a man!"

"I'm right here," Itachi's voice echoed through the blackness. Rin turned to see him and she grinned.

"You're gonna regret revealing yourself," she tried to step forward but lurched instead. She looked down at her feet which were sinking into the blackness. "This jutsu again? Please."

She aimed chakra blasts down at her feet to destroy the ground just like before. However, this time the ground just absorbed the blasts. "What the hell?!"

"This is my world now," Itachi's eyes narrowed over his collar. "I control everything. Time, space, even you. You cannot escape this world."

"Genjutsu," Rin whispered. "Dammit, I got caught in his genjutsu again!"

She focused her chakra to try and break his genjutsu but the creeping sensation up her legs was undeniably distracting. The blackness began to crawl up her torso and climbed up to her arms. "It's not real, it's not real," she whispered.

The blackness creeped up her neck and towards her lips. She shook her head violently to fight against it but the darkness locked her neck into place and began to force itself into her mouth. It threw her head back and forced itself down her throat. She coughed as the blackness choked her. Her eyes grew wide as she felt the mysterious substance filling her throat and body, forcing all of the air out of her. Her vision began to blur as she kept repeating in her mind,_It's not real, it's not real._

Rin's knees shook violently before giving way and she fell towards the ground. She landed with a soft thump as her eyes were half open but her stare was blank. Itachi landed beside her and knelt down to pick her up.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice warned and Itachi glanced up. Ke was sitting up in the trees with Hake glaring at his side. Itachi looked back at his prey and reached out to grab her. But when he touched her arm a burning sensation erupted in his fingers. He snapped his hand back and stared intently at Rin.

"Told you not to do that," Ke called again and jumped down from the tree. He began to walk towards Itachi as he stood up to face him. "Itachi, right? The spoiled brat of the Uchiha clan?"

"Excuse me?" Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"You had everything: loving family, caring village, talent, praise, fame, power. But it still wasn't enough for you, you wanted more-"

"You can guess at my motives all you want," Itachi interrupted calmly. "But I guarantee that you know nothing about me."

"Fine," Ke shrugged again. "But it won't stop me from calling you a spoiled brat."

"Why can't I touch her?" Itachi pointed down at Rin but Ke just shrugged.

"Hey, you're the spoiled genius with the magic eyes," Ke wiggled his fingers at Itachi's Sharingan. "You tell me."

Itachi's brow furrowed at the Hikage jounin before looking back at Rin. His eyes focused down at Rin's arm as a pattern began to glow on her flesh. "You put a seal on her."

"Of course I did. The moment I learned about Akatsuki I developed that seal. I won't let you take her."

"That's a very impressive seal," Itachi noted.

"Oh it gets even better," Ke began to pace around the two of them. "If you manage to break the first seal, the second seal activates. It automatically summons countless demons to her. You can't possibly defeat them all."

"Very impressive indeed," Itachi nodded. "Your seals rival those of the Fourth's."

"You think so?" Ke cocked his head. "Yeah, I guess they'd seem that way to the untrained eye. Even if it is a Sharingan."

"What are you saying?" Itachi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and Ke just shrugged.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," he said and Itachi's fist tightened underneath his cloak "Right now, I think you should be more concerned with how to get past my seals."

"The demons are in contract with you. Therefore, if I kill you, the second seal becomes useless. And I have no doubt I can break the first one."

"Well," Ke stretched and cracked his back. "I can see a challenge when it's given. Hake?"

"Right, Ke-sama," he nodded and jumped down to Rin's side. He clasped his paws together and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Shall we?" Ke said and Itachi nodded.

* * *

Kisame paused as he walked through the woods. He looked up and squinted towards the trees.

"You're not the Houkou either," he sighed when Rei jumped down in front of him. Her eyes ran over his attire and she frowned.

"You're Akatsuki, right?" She asked. "You're here for Rin."

"Exactly, now are you going to tell me where she is or do I have to beat the answer out of you?" Kisame grinned his pointy teeth. Rei's eyes narrowed as she affirmed her stance and Kisame laughed. "I guess I'm in for a treat then."

"Believe me, this won't be enjoyable," Rei warned. The ground beneath Kisame cracked but he jumped away avoiding being swallowed up by the chasm which opened up beneath him. Rei narrowed her eyes and sent rocks hurtling towards him. He swung Samehada easily swatting the rocks away.

"Do you really think those little pebbles are enough to hurt me?!" He demanded. Rei's eyes narrowed as she smashed her foot down onto the ground upheaving a huge boulder three times the size of Kisame himself. Kisame frowned. "Damn."

She sent it hurtling towards him with admirable speed but he was able to dodge it, barely. He watched the boulder crash down to the forest floor taking several trees with it and frowned.

"All this earth is proving to be annoying," he noted as she pulled more earth up and began to sharpen the rocks into long spears. "Better get rid of it."

He breathed in deep before expelling countless tons of water from his mouth onto the forest. Rei's eyes opened in surprise as she jumped up into the trees to avoid the water. After he had flooded the surroundings he smirked up at her.

"Now that you don't have anymore rocks to play with, what are you going to do?" He asked and Rei shrugged.

"Play with water." Rei sent thin arcs of the water towards Kisame. His eyes narrowed as he dodged the arcs but one managed to cut through his sleeve. He looked down at it in annoyance.

"She can use water ninjutsu too?" He frowned. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to summon this water."

"Too late for regrets," Rei warned as she surfed towards him on a wave of water. She called up more pillars of water to come crashing down on him but he dodged again.

"Little brat! Do you think you're the only one with water-based ninjutsu?!" He demanded and formed hand signs of his own. "Water Shark Missile!"

A giant shark rose up from the water and descended towards Rei. She just gritted her teeth and continued to advance towards him. He grinned.

"You're gonna regret that little girl! You can't stand up to my jutsus!" He yelled but she barreled on. Kisame smirked. "She's gonna get pulverized."

Rei smirked as she formed hand signs, "Blood and Water Combination!"

Rei's body dissolved into water as it slammed into Kisame's wave. The water settled back down to the forest floor. Kisame frowned. "When did she have time to switch in a water clone?"

He looked around the forest for any traces of her. "Where the hell is she?"

He looked up, to the left, to the right. He ground his teeth together as his grip on Samehada tightened. His eyes widened when he felt the vibrations under his feet. Looking down he frowned, nothing was there! But he could feel something coming up towards him, just what the hell is it?! A pillar of water erupted behind Kisame as Rei appeared and sent a stream of water towards him. It caught him by surprise and smashed into the side of his head sending him skidding across the water. He got up with anger flashing in his eyes.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" He demanded as the girl smirked at him.

"The water," Rei shrugged and his eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, 'the water?'"

"I can merge with water, or any element for that matter," she informed. "Earth, fire, air. Although I try and avoid the last two, it's a little difficult to control myself in those forms."

"The Blood Element Combination jutsu," Kisame's eyes widened. "But that jutsu died with the Tatsu clan."

"That would be true," Rei agreed. "If the Tatsu clan were really dead."

"Ah," Kisame frowned. "So you're the last one, eh? Well, then I guess today is my lucky day. I get to kill off one of the greatest clans in history!"

Kisame lunged towards her but Rei dissolved into water again. Kisame yelled in frustration as she began to circle him in water form. "Hold still you little brat so I can kill you!"

Rei struck Kisame again in the back and he yelled again in frustration. Throwing his Samehada into the air he began to form hand signs. "Enough! Ice Element Freezing jutsu!"

He inhaled deeply and blew a cold wind out over the forest freezing the water into place. Rei's water form danced away from the wind a reformed into her normal flesh and bone self. She skidded to a stop and faced Kisame who caught his Samehada. She raised an eyebrow smiling. "Oh I'm sorry, did I bother you just then?"

"You annoying little brat," Kisame growled. "I'll teach you to mess with me."

"How?" Rei asked. "You've frozen all the water and you only have jutsu from water. What else have you got?"

"I've got Samehada!" He yelled rushing forward and sliced the giant sword down. Rei leapt up out of the way but he quickly appeared behind her with a horizontal swipe of the sword. She formed back into water and flowed effortlessly over the blade. Kisame smirked as Samehada began to glow. Rei's water form leapt away from the sword and reformed on a nearby tree. She panted slowly as her eyes narrowed in on the sword.

"Surprised, I see," Kisame smirked. "Samehada likes your chakra. Come closer so he can get another taste."

"It absorbs chakra?" Rei realized and took a few steps back.

"Are you running away?" Kisame cocked is head and chuckled. "Just like your little friend."

"Friend?" Rei narrowed her eyes. "What friend?"

"That little boy with the toothpick of a sword, he ran away when he figured out Samehada could eat him up," Kisame's smile widened when he saw Rei's expression of shock.

"What did you do to him?" Rei asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing," Kisame shrugged. "I just left him to bleed to death. And after I'm done with you, I'll go after your friend the Houkou."

"Bastard!" Rei screamed and sent chunks of ice flying towards him. Kisame crashed Samehada into the ice shattering it. But he wasn't expecting Rei to be hiding in the shadow of the ice.

"Fireball jutsu!" She sent a ball of fire from her mouth towards him. He jumped back but she continued to send the balls of fire towards him. She forced him back against a tree. She sent up a sheet of ice and froze him to the tree. Forming a spike of ice she broke it off and sent it crashing towards his head. Unfortunately it splattered into his water clone. She panted. "Dammit."

"You can switch between elements very easily, impressive," Kisame noted as he stepped ou from the trees. "You're control is excellent."

"I'll make you pay for what you did to Toya. And I will never let you get to Rin," her fists tightened as ice shards began to float around her. She sent them flying towards him and they embedded themselves into the ground where he once stood. Kisame had jumped up and brought his Samehada down on Rei. She leapt back, missing the bandaged blade by mere centimeters. She felt the chakra being pulled out of her and fell to her knees. Kisame shouldered his blade and smirked.

"That elemental control isn't easy, eh?" He deduced. "You have to let your chakra flow through the element itself. And to have that much control you must expel a lot of chakra into the element. Then there's your transformation into the element. Even I know how much chakra that wastes. Between your elemental control and Samehada, you must be tired."

Rei grimaced, he was right. She couldn't handle this for much longer, time to switch tactics. She formed hand signs, "Summoning jutsu!"

The seals shot out from where she planted her hand down on the ice and then…nothing. Kisame threw his head back in laughter.

"How pathetic!" He chortled. "You don't even have enough chakra to perform a summoning jutsu!"

"Just wait for it," Rei smiled and Kisame's eyes narrowed. The ice underneath him began to shake, minutely. He looked down in time to see the giant serpent like creature Rei had summoned coming towards him with alarming speed. It crashed through the ice surface Kisame had created and threw the defected ninja back. Kisame looked up in alarm at the creature as it coiled around Rei. She stepped upon its blue scaly back as it continued to crawl up from the ice. It pulled its back legs up from the ice and freed its tail from its ice prison.

"A dragon?" Kisame looked up in amazement as the legendary creature blinked its yellow eyes at him. White hair flowed from its head and hardened into white fins which ran down the length of its back down to its long tail. It held itself up with four strong legs which had sharp claws and webbed toes. Two horns which seemed to made up of ice spread from behind its pointed blue ears and it bared its pointy teeth at Kisame. Rei walked along its back up to its head and sat down looking at him smugly.

"Do you know the legend of the Tatsu clan?" She asked.

"Yeah, they were legendary for their elemental control-" He began.

"No, before that," Rei interrupted. "My clan was formed hundreds of years ago when dragons still roamed freely. But that was also when the dragons were hunted by humans for their horns."

She patted the ice horn of the dragon that closed his eyes in pleasure. "The dragons were the original guardians of the elements. They had complete control over them, water, fire, earth, air, everything was under their control. But they couldn't stand up to the sheer number of humans out to get them. Some fled to other dimensions, some stayed. Those who stayed were killed off until there were only four left. So the dragons entrusted a few strong warriors to protect them. They fused their own blood with the human warriors so they could have the same control over the elements they did. These warriors sacrificed their lives to protect the dragons.and in return the dragons promised to protect anyone who carried those warriors' blood afterwards."

"Your blood is your summoning contract then," Kisame deduced.

"I can summon any one of the last four," Rei nodded. "I can summon a water, fire, earth, or air dragon with no chakra whatsoever."

"But if I spill all your blood, the dragons won't be a problem anymore," Kisame grinned maniacally. Rei frowned as he began to run towards the dragon swinging Samehada. The dragon narrowed its eyes and turned to face him. Opening its mouth it launched blasts of pure ice towards Kisame but he swatted them away with Samehada. The dragon snaked towards him as Rei ran down its back. It clamped its jaws down on Kisame but he just exploded into water.

The real Kisame jumped out from the woods with Samehada raised high intending to slice the dragon in half. However, Rei appeared and sent an icy wind towards Kisame, blowing him off course. Before he had a chance to recover he saw the dragon's clawed hand coming down towards him. He flung Samehada out and blocked the giant hand. The dragon put more weight on its leg and Kisame struggled under the pressure. But then the blade glowed and began to suck out the chakra from the dragon. The dragon howled and jumped back, slithering away to a safe distance. It glared menacingly at Kisame who just bared his equally menacing smile.

"Hey, what happens if Samehada sucks all the chakra away from your little pet?" Kisame called to Rei who just glared at him. She stroked the head of the dragon before leaping down and running towards Kisame. He readied his Samehada for her attack. She fell into a sliding kick melting the ice with her chakra and sending it up towards him in a huge wave. Kisame readied his Samehada to deflect the attack but to his surprise the dragon came crashing through the wave with its jaws outstretched. However, it clamped down on air when Kisame jumped over the dragon. But he too was surprised when Rei appeared.

"Fireball jutsu!" She yelled letting the fire flow forth from her mouth. Kisame swung Samehada up to block the attack but she managed to push him back. He grimaced against the heat.

"This is getting really annoying," he muttered as he waited for the flames to subside. Before they could burn out, however, the dragon appeared behind him again. Kisame swung his sword up to block the attack but the dragon clamped down on Samehada and ripped it from his hands. It rose above him with Samehada in his jaws. But Kisame just smirked, "That was a mistake."

The dragon howled in pain as Samehada's scales ripped into its mouth. It flung the weapon away as blood poured from its mouth. Kisame picked up the discarded weapon and shouldered it cockily. Rei landed on the dragon's head and stroked it as it whimpered in pain. She made soothing noises before dismissing the beast.

"Was that it?" Kisame laughed. "Was that all the great Tatsu clan has to offer?"

"Not even close," Rei ran forward sending her chakra into the ice below her melting it. It began to surround her as she advanced. She sent it out in a multitude of spears and he swatted them away with his sword. Then she sent up arcs of liquid cutting through the bandages of Samehada and even its defense. Kisame fell back as the arcs cut into the material of his cloak. He quickly sheathed Samehada and formed hand signs.

"Water Element: Ice Forest!" The ice erupted into spikes underneath Rei. She nimbly dodged the growing peaks as they neared the sky. She frowned, how long was this going to go on? She couldn't get a hit in if she spent the entire time dodging ice! And that was exactly Kisame's plan. He chased her up the peaks and appeared behind her. Swinging his Samehada down on her he slashed into her shoulder. Her eyes opened wide as Samehada bit into her shoulder devouring what remaining chakra she had left. Her limp body was sent crashing through the ice peaks from the force of the blow. Kisame smirked when he saw her hurtling towards impalement on one of his spikes. However, his frown fell when what seemed to be a flash saved her. He looked over to see Neji laying her unconscious body down carefully on the ice covered ground.

Neji activated his Byakugan. The wound in her shoulder was shallow but she was almost completely out of chakra. He looked over at Kisame and narrowed his lavender eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Kisame demanded as Neji stood up.

"That's right, I've only fought a clone of you. This is our first real meeting," Neji said.

"Ah, you were one of the Konoha brats my clone fought?" Kisame cocked his head. "Then you know that idiot jounin."

"Yeah," Neji nodded. "He's my sensei."

"My deepest apologies then," Kisame said.

"Thanks," Neji's eyes narrowed into his Byakugan. "You're lucky her wound is shallow."

"Do you want me to make it deeper?" Kisame grinned and Neji's fists tightened.

"Touch her again and I will end you," Neji's anger crackled through the air.

"Aw," Kisame cocked his head in amusement. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Ahh!" Neji lunged forward and stuck out with his sixty-four palms. Kisame struggled to dodge all the blows.

_Damn, he's fast. _Kisame frowned as he was missing Neji's hit by mere inches. He brought Samehada up to block Neji's final punch. Kisame grinned as the sword began to glow. Unfortunately, Neji began to smile as well. Kisame jumped back and looked down at Samehada in surprise.

"Why didn't Samehada eat your chakra?!" He demanded.

"It did," Neji assured. "But I focused my chakra in such a minute stream it seemed as if it didn't take any at all. Looks like your weapon is useless against me."

"I'll teach you to underestimate Samehada!" Kisame screamed as he lunged forward swinging the giant blade. Neji focused his Byakugan to read Kisame's movements and dodged the attacks and using his juken to strike when he could. But both ninjas' attacks were proving to be useless against each other. They jumped back from each other and each sized the other up. Kisame glanced back at Rei's still and bleeding form, _the fight with her wasted a lot of my chakra, fighting him isn't going to be easy. _

Neji eased into the juuken defensive stance and Kisame tapped Samehada on the ice in contemplation. Finally he looked up and narrowed his beady eyes on Neji. "Well I don't want to waste anymore time so I'm not gonna play around with you like I did with your little girlfriend. Sorry."

He brought Samehada down and crashed it into the ice surface breaking the entire structure back into water. Neji immediately grabbed Rei and jumped into a nearby tree. Setting her down carefully he scanned the area with is Byakugan. He focused in on the water.

"He's there!" He determined and lunged back onto the surface of the water with his fist crashing through to Kisame's face. However, he dissolved into water which surrounded Neji and trapped him in a globe of water. Neji frowned, _not this again. _Concentrating on the sphere he located the weaknesses in chakra and aimed his sixty-four palms carefully. He burst through the water and yelled, "Did you really expect the same jutsu to work on me twice?!"  
"No," Kisame grinned as he appeared behind Neji in a flash, far too quickly for him to defend. He turned just in time to see Kisame bring his blade down to slice Neji in half. Neji shut his eyes and felt the warm spray of blood on his body, but there was no pain. He opened his eyes and saw silver hair and fair skin slowly being stained with blood.

"No," Neji whispered and Rei coughed up blood and her knees buckled. She fell forward and Neji grabbed her before she could sink into the water. "Rei?! No! Wake up!"

He shook her but her blood continued to seep from the slash across her chest onto her clothes and his hands. Her eyes wouldn't open no matter how hard he shook. Tears began to well up in his eyes as his face relaxed and the Byakugan disappeared. He couldn't concentrate enough to maintain the jutsu. His voice dropped to nothing more than a whisper, "Rei? Please wake up."

"How pathetic," Kisame rolled his eyes as Neji clutched her limp form to his chest. He heaved Samehada off of his shoulder and brought it over his head. "It's time I end this."

Neji didn't notice that Kisame had raised his sword. All of his concentration was focused on getting Rei to open her eyes. If he wasn't so concentrated, he might have noticed the imminent danger, or for that matter the pattern Rei's blood was staining into the ground. Her blood formed into a circle around the two younger ninja and the pattern slowly began to glow. Kisame stopped Samehada in mid swipe as the pattern glowed brighter and brighter. The glaring brightness even called Neji's attention. Light from the pattern shot up and snaked towards the sky. It twisted and turned and began to take the shape of a very, very, large serpent like dragon. Its green scales materialized out of the light as yellow hair flowed from its head, elbows, knees, and tails. Yellow fins rose along its backside and solid black horns grew from behind its pointy ears. It rushed back down towards earth and circled Neji and Rei pushing Kisame back.

"More of these things?!" Kisame gritted his teeth as the dragon fully circled the younger ninja. It hovered its head over them and Neji clung to Rei tightly summoning his Byakugan to figure out what the hell it was. It cocked its head as it inspected Neji.

"Byakugan? Then we must be in Konoha." Its deep rumbling voice echoed throughout the forest. Neji nodded, still clinging to Rei. The dragon's yellow eyes swept over Rei and slowly closed. "So this is the last of the Tatsu clan."

"Who are you?" Neji demanded.

"Call me Yochi," the dragon said. "I am the ultimate guardian dragon of the Tatsu clan. Long ago I abandoned this world of war and pain for another dimension. But I am summoned for the Tatsu clan's ultimate defense."

"Ultimate defense?" Neji questioned and the dragon closed its eyes again.

"Yes. When a member of the Tatsu clan spills his life blood, I appear to protect him."

"Life blood?!" Neji's voice filled with panic. "No! Rei won't die! I won't let her!"

"I can see that," Yochi nodded and turned his head upon Kisame. "Mist Village?" He cocked his head at the slash through Kisame's headband.

"Former," Kisame corrected and ran towards the dragon with Samehada. Yochi inhaled and released a large ball of air pushing Kisame back to where he started. Kisame glared angrily. Yochi swung his tail around it landed with a great crash where Kisame stood. Kisame jumped back further into the woods. "Dammit! I don't have time for this!"

He sheathed Samehada and formed hand signs, "This isn't over!"

A mist began to creep into the woods as Kisame disappeared into the fog. Neji focused his Byakugan into the mist but Yochi moved his head into his view. "She needs help. Will you help me help her?"

Neji looked back down at Rei and knew where his priorities lay. "We need to take her to Hokage-sama in the village, now!"

"All right," Yochi rumbled and laid a portion of his body on the floor for Neji to climb upon. He gingerly picked Rei up and climbed on top of Yochi, gripping one of his yellow fins tightly. "Hold on."

Neji gripped as Yochi shot into the air towards Konoha. In almost no time they were hovering above Tsunade's office. Neji picked up Rei and landed on the roof. Yochi hovered above them. Neji looked around frantically, why was no one here?! You'd think they would have sent someone to investigate a three mile long dragon hovering over the roof. He looked back down at Rei who was deathly pale. He grazed her cheek with his fingertips and flinched at her cold flesh. He looked over the empty roof as tears slipped freely down his cheeks.

"TSUNADE-SAMA!"

* * *

Ke adjusted his gloves as Itachi looked him over. Ke glanced up at his red eyes, "You've hurt what is most precious to me and you will pay dearly for it."

"I'm surprised the great monster of Hikage Forest is showing this much emotion," Itachi noted. "A minute ago you didn't even seem phased by the near dead body of your student."

"I try not to be too human around my demon summons. It makes me look bad," Ke informed and immediately sent a chakra whip flying towards Itachi. He dodged it easily but another erupted from the ground under his feet. Ke tightened his grip on the whip as it wrapped around Itachi's leg which promptly exploded into smoke. Itachi appeared behind Ke and sent shuriken towards him. Ke didn't move; instead he sent up a chakra shield which easily blocked the attacks. Itachi narrowed his eyes at him.

"You use similar chakra attacks to the Houkou," he realized.

"Yeah, I did teach her everything she knows," Ke said in a mocking tone.

"But you don't have the enormous amount of chakra she has because of the five tails," Itachi focused his eyes. "Or do you?"

"Orochimaru made sure I had lots of chakra to spare," Ke informed. "Of course I don't have as much as any of the tailed demons but I have a much larger amount than the average ninja, like you."

"Be careful what you say," Itachi narrowed his eyes before forming hand signs then bringing his hand up to his mouth. "Fireball jutsu."

Ke summoned up another chakra shield but was pushed back by the strength of his attack. Straining against the attack he muttered, "Maybe he has a little more chakra than the average ninja too. But still not as much as me!"

Ke sent more chakra into his shield pushing through the flames to the other side and send the shield out knocking into Itachi. But he again exploded into smoke. Ke groaned, "That jutsu's getting really old!"

"Then stop falling for it," Itachi's voice sounded from behind. Ke turned and ducked just in time to avoid kunei he had thrown at him. Ke aimed chakra blasts at him and Itachi started to run. Ke ran after him still firing his chakra blasts. Itachi jumped up and faced him, "Phoenix Flower Fire Blast."

It was Ke's turn to run as he dodged the multiple fire blasts. However his feet began to sink into the ground. Ke looked down at the ground in the alarm, "When the hell did he cast this jutsu?!"

"Too quick for you?" Itachi asked as he stepped to the edge of the sinking earth. Ke pulled his glove off and pressed the tip of his kunei to his finger.

"You wish," he countered and formed a summoning jutsu's hand signs. "Summoning jutsu!"

The ground shook as Ke rose up from the quick sand carried by a large alligator with red eyes and even larger teeth than normal. Ke jumped from his back and dismissed the creature. He turned to face Itachi. "What else you got?"

Itachi sent more shurkien towards Ke who whipped out a kunei and deflected them. However Itachi was right behind the shuriken and began a flurry of punches to his head. Ke dodged all the blows but was driven back into the trees. _Dammit, he's too fast! I can barely dodge these hits!_

However, matters only got worse when another Itachi appeared behind him and joined in on the punches. Now Itachi was landing blows and Ke was getting pissed. He managed to block both of the Itachi's and hold their fists, keeping them in place. Then he flexed for a split second before sending a wave of chakra out sending the two of them back into trees. The two burst into smoke.

Ke looked around the forest for the real Itachi but he was nowhere in sight. He couldn't even sniff him out because of those damn shadow clones. "Come on! Come out and face me like a man you little spoiled brat!"

Itachi exploded from the ground beneath Ke driving him back with impressive taijutsu. Ke skidded to a stop and rested on his haunches staring at Itachi. Itachi cocked his head, "What's wrong? Finally realized you can't win this?"

"Nah," Ke shook his head, "I just realized I've been in Konoha waaaay too long. They have me fighting like a human."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as Ke formed hand signs, "Demon imitation jutsu!"

Claws ripped through the material of Ke's gloves as he lunged towards Itachi. But instead of the structured punches he was attempting before Ke attacked with swipes of his claws and vicious, unpredictable kicks. Itachi's frustration showed on his face as he tried to avoid Ke's more animalistic style. He jumped back and touched his throat gingerly feeling the raised skin from the welt where Ke's claw had grazed his neck. He looked back at Ke who had returned to sitting on his haunches.

Shuriken flew out from Itachi's hands towards Ke who jumped up out of the way. But Itachi appeared behind him and elbowed him in the back. When Ke landed on the ground he barely had time to react to the other shuriken Itachi threw. One managed to slash his arm. Ke flew back and inspected the cut. A thin line of red appeared beneath the torn cloth. Itachi smirked before rushing forward with his own punches. Ke was more flexible and erratic, dodging more, but not all, of his punches. Finally Itachi managed to incapicate Ke by grabbing his arm and hand and holding firm. Ke struggled against Itachi's grip but to no avail. Itachi focused his Sharingan to finish the job but he felt a burning on his hand. He jumped back from the demon jounin in pain and looked down at his hand which showed what appeared to be acid burns caused by the blood from Ke's arm which had seeped out onto his hand. He looked at Ke accusingly but Ke only shrugged.

"Demon blood is nothing to mess with," Ke explained.

"I can see that," Itachi rubbed his hand before lunging towards Ke again with another barrage of punches. However, this time Ke was able to grab Itachi's arms and dug his claws in, affirming his grip.

"You're getting sloppy," Ke noted but then flinched. "Unless you're-shit!"

Before Ke could jump away Itachi's clone exploded sending him back. He was able to deflect most of the explosion with a chakra shield but he was still blown back into the woods. He broke through a trunk but the resistance was enough to help him stop. However, before he could react another Itachi appeared in front of the demon jounin. Ke prepared another chakra shield but Itachi just blew up in a fiery blast driving Ke further back. More and more clones appeared and exploded against Ke's shield. He dug his feet deep into the ground as he felt the chakra shield around him weaken. The last clone exploded and cracked the shield. Ke peered through the smoke in time to see a fireball hurtling towards him. It exploded through the shield and threw him back.

While he was off balance, and still under the cloak of the smoke, shuriken bit into Ke tearing up the flesh on his arms and legs. He sent out another chakra shield to block the attacks and retreated.

Ke landed on a tree and used chakra to stick to the tree while searching for Itachi. However, the Sharingan jounin was nowhere in sight. Ke pounded his fist against the bark, "Dammit! He keeps disappearing!"

"You're just too slow to keep up!" Itachi announced as appeared and fired fireballs at Ke who ran up the tree to avoid the blasts. He ran up until the trunk became too thin to support his weight then richocheted off of the tree to one behind Itachi. Ke dragged his thumb through the cut Itachi had inflicted earlier and ran it down the trunk as he slid down the tree.

"Summoning jutsu!" Ke yelled and hundreds of demon bats erupted from the trail of blood. They swarmed towards Itachi who could only throw his hands up in defense. The bats, each the size of a large cat, attacked with teeth and claws and screeches. Itachi swatted at them futiley as they continued to barrage him. However, Ke didn't rest or revel at the sight. Instead he sat on his haunches and watched Itachi carefully. _How the hell am I supposed to beat this guy?_

Itachi's eyes burned with anger as he formed hand signs within the blink of an eye. "Great Fireball jutsu!" A huge stream of fire erupted from his mouth consuming the bats. They screeched horribly as the flames ate through their wings and fur. They fell like rocks to the ground before burning to ash. Itachi was still as they fell around him in droves; his red eyes pierced through the flames and flesh. His focus was entirely on Ke who was still sitting apart from him.

"Dammit, I'm really in for it now," Ke sighed and began to form hand signs for another summoning jutsu. "Summoning ju-"

"No more!" Itachi ordered as he smashed his fist into Ke's stomach throwing him back into a tree. Ke crashed into the tree splintering the wood and skidded to a stop digging up a sizable trench. Ke stood up shakily but before he could recover a kunei smashed into his face shattering his mask and knocking him to the ground. Ke stood up shakily and faced Itachi whose red eyes narrowed in on Ke's now half exposed face. Ke sighed heavily and pulled off the rest of his mask and cowl. Ke's own golden eyes focused in on Itachi's red eyes.

* * *

Cliffhanger!!! Ahh!!!

Reviews anyone???


	10. Chapter 9

"So," Itachi looked the now revealed Ke over. "You're a woman."

Her body was still effectively hidden by her clothes but her exposed face was more than enough to prove she was a woman. Her long golden hair fell in loose waves around her body to her knees and spilled in front of her shoulders in shorter segments with bangs which fell just beneath her eyes. Golden eyes defined by dark lashes shone from her porcelain skin complimented by full pink lips which matched the slight pink flush in her cheeks. Her beautiful face was the exact opposite of the horrifying white hanya mask she had worn all those years. Not that Itachi cared about any of this.

"I'm surprised that all you were hiding under there was the fact that you're a woman," He said, slight disappointement in is voice, and Ke laughed.

"It's a little more complicated than that but it's not like you care," Ke said and Itachi cocked his head.

"Your voice is different," he noted.

"Yeah, the whole looking like a man thing doesn't really work if you sound like a girl," Ke nudged a piece of her broken mask. "Well now, since I'm revealing all my secrets to you, I guess it's time for me to bring out some secret moves."

"Won't give you the chance," Itachi said as he held his hand up to his mouth. "Fireball jutsu!"

Ke just smirked as a shield of chakra enveloped her. But this time, the shield withstood the blast effortlessly. Itachi stopped the jutsu and waited for the smoke to clear. Two pearlescent white wings made of pure chakra were covering Ke. They spread apart as she stood up to face him. He focused his eyes in on them.

_She's condensed her chakra to create a much more powerful and dense shield. She must have been storing it up for a while, _Itachi determined.

"A demon with angel's wings," Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You are full of surprises."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Ke assured before flexing her wings and shooting towards him. Itachi stepped back and let the flames flow from his mouth. However, her wings just enveloped her again effectively deflecting the blast. Itachi frowned as her wings shimmered before beaking apart into feathers. The pearlescent feathers shot towards Itachi. He focused his sharingan in order to dodge the projectiles but there were hundreds of them and they kept coming after him. Finally they massed together and came down hard on top of Itachi. Ke groaned when he exploded into smoke. "Damn shadow clones."

She tensed before jumping off the ground as Itachi's hands came through the ground. They futiley groped air before Ke's chakra whip wrapped around his wrist. Ke yanked him up through the ground as her nails grew into claws. She shoved her hand into his throat but he just exploded into smoke again. Her fists tightened as Itachi stepped out of the woods behind her.

"Are you done yet?" Itachi asked calmly and Ke turned slowly towards him, her eyes flashing dangerously. She pulled up her sleeve revealing an intricate tattoo. As she fed more and more chakra into the pattern it began to glow blood red.

"Summoning jutsu: Hell gates open!"

"Another one of your demon summons?" Itachi asked. "How long are you going to depend on those little monsters before they betray you?"

"For one thing, I don't depend on them," Ke corrected. "And to betray you have to be loyal in the first place. In my world it's everyone for themselves. The only reason why my demon summons come to my command is because they like to eat spoiled little brats like you."

Itachi's eyes searched the forest, "Well I guess I'm not very appetizing, they've failed to come."

"Wait for it," Ke smiled. Itachi's eyes widened as he sensed the gentle vibrations in the ground grow steadily stronger. The earth began to shake and the trees trembled as the ground beneath them cracked. Suddenly, two giant doors erupted from the ground towering over the two ninjas. They cracked open and a howling wind kicked up as the skies began to darken. Itachi jumped back but Ke remained in place. The doors swung open revealing the black swirling abyss they housed. A giant paw stepped out from the gates. Three heads emerged from the gates as Berous emerged from the gates. Itachi's eyes narrowed at the large three headed dog which was a comparable size to the tailed demons, and was undoubtedly just as strong as them. Itachi frown deepened as Berous leaned his heads down to Ke. She climbed up on his back and settled in on his middle head.

"Watch it," Bero warned. "You're bleeding all over me."

"Sorry," Ke rolled her eyes.

"Where's your mask?" Bero's deep voice rumbled and Ke motioned to Itachi.

"He broke it off," she explained.

"Hmm," Bero's voice sounded from the three mouths. "I think I preferred the mask rather than this ugly human face."

"Well, just for you, I'll get another one after this fight," Ke ran his fingers through Bero's fur. Bero shook at her touch.

"Don't get too comfortable," he warned. "You've obviously been spending too much time among the humans. Allow me to remind you where we came from!"

Bero lunged towards Itachi with his fangs bared. Itachi jumped up and avoided Bero's fangs before he clamped down on the ground. However, Bero brought his right head up and shot a ball of lightning towards Itachi. Itachi exploded in a cloud of smoke as the lightning hit him.

However, the real Itachi, who was watching from the trees, didn't have much time to rest. Bero's left head howled releasing a gust of wind knocking him out of the tree he was watching from. Itachi twisted in the air and landed on his feet. Skidding to a stop he glared up at the three headed monster. His eyes widened.

"Where did she go?" His eyes darted around. He flung his arm up just in time to dodge her kick. She continued with a barrage of kicks and jabs, her style getting more and more animalistic and ruthless as they went. However, Itachi still managed to block all of her attacks. She jumped back and formed hand signs.

"Dark escape jutsu!" She yelled and plunged her hands into the shadows at her feet. Suddenly Itachi felt pressure on his ankles. He looked down to see her hands peeking out from the shadow he was standing in. He struggled against her grip but she held on tight. He held his hand to his mouth planning to burn her hands off, however, before he could cast the jutsu she yanked on his feet and dragged him into the shadows. She pulled her empty hands out of the shadows and smirked before jumping away. Before Itachi could dig his way out of the ground he felt Bero's presence above him.

"Devil's thunder!" Bero's deep voice rumbled as thunder and wind shot forth from all three of his mouths. They converged on Itachi and the forest ground erupted from the blasts. Ke sat down heavily on the beast's back as dust filled the air. Bero's yellow eyes rolled up to her. "You're weak."

"He's Itachi Uchiha, a legend. I thought you'd be happy to face him, not scold me for being too weak to handle him," Ke sighed is irritance.

"No, your chakra level is dangerously low, little one. You called me a little late in this battle. You don't even have enough chakra to keep me here for another five minutes. You're not even worth eating right now, little one," Bero corrected and Ke laughed.

"He took a lot out of me," she shrugged. "Blame him for robbing you of your meal."

"If I realized you were this empty I wouldn't have finished him off so I could at least eat him. I wonder how an Uchiha tastes."

"I would imagine a full bold flavor that's also quite spicy," Ke shrugged and Bero's laughter rumbled deep. "He had a lot of spunk to him."

"Thanks for the compliment," Itachi's unbearably calm voice sounded from the forest.

"Do you ever die?!" Ke demanded as she stood up shakily from Bero's shiny black fur.

"Not at the hands of such weaklings," he countered.

"Easy there," Ke warned as her fists tightened. Itachi's eyes swept over her casually.

"You're weak," he noted and Ke leaned down to Bero's ear.

"See what happens when you open your three mouths?" She asked and he gave a toothy grin. "Now he thinks I'm weak!"

"The Uchiha has a point," Bero shook his fur and Ke fell over on his back. "I can't stay any longer. Goodbye little one, and try not to die. I would like to be the one who feasts on your body."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ke said and jumped down from his back. Bero glanced down at her. _That one still doesn't give a damn about herself but…there's something in that one's eyes. The little one cares about something, someone. I wonder who? _

The gates reopened revealing the swirling abyss which Bero padded into. He gave one last look at the two ninja who faced each other. _It's a shame, they would have made tastey snacks. _The gates shut and sunk back into the ground.

"You're weak," Itachi repeated.

"Yes, I know, I'm weak." Ke sighed. "What else is new?"

"You're considerably weaker than before," Itachi's eyes narrowed. "A summoning jutsu doesn't take that much chakra. At least not a normal one. That creature wasn't a normal summon. Demons can't just roam around this world. He must have come from another dimension. One that needs to be forced open, then he must be pulled from the dimension, and the doors must be kept open until you can shove him back in. That must take an exhorbitant amount of chakra. Which is why that monster left so hastily and why you are so weak right now."

"Goddamn those eyes are good," Ke laughed.

"This has been fun, but you're too weak to bother with anymore. It's time to finish this," Itachi formed hand signs. "Tsukuyomi."

The world around Ke dropped away and she was forced to sit down heavily. She struggled to get up but she couldn't even raise her arms off the thick armrests of the heavy wood chair she was planted on. She sighed and blew the bangs out of her face. "I was wondering when he was going to cast a genjutsu."

She continued to struggle against the invisible bonds. "Bero could have at least stuck around to keep me company…or eat the spoiled brat."

"It's your own fault he couldn't stay," Itachi materialized in front of her. "You're the one who summoned him with so little chakra left."

"Yeah, but you're the one who wouldn't die," she countered and glanced around the empty space again. "So what the hell is this anyway?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed and Ke cocked her head before jerking in pain. She swallowed hard and looked down at her leg, the source of her current pain. Slowly, a silver spike pushed through the material of her pants. Her blood dripped down the metal needle as it continued to push upwards. She looked up at Itachi, her teeth bared.

"In this world, I control everything. I also decide when this ends," he said and Ke jerked forward as she felt another spike pushing into her flesh. It began to emerge a quarter inch from the other spike. The spikes grew from the chair and bit into her flesh. One after the other they shoved their way into her body, there seemed to be no end to them. Itachi leaned forward and she looked up at him, her eyes slitted in pain. "By the way, this world lasts for 72 hours."

"Lucky me," Ke forced a smile but quickly choked as a spike pushed its way from her back into her stomach.

Itachi watched Ke fall forward onto the grass. She held herself up with shaking arms as he walked towards her slowly. A kunei fell from his sleeve and he wrapped his fingers around it gently. He stopped before her and raised his kunei above his head ready to finish the battle as effortlessly as he had been fighting it so far. He brought the kunei down towards her neck. Ke caught the blade an inch away from her flesh. She smiled up at him. "Got you."

Her fist slammed into his face and he was flung back from the force. Itachi skidded to a stop and glared at her with pure irritation and annoyance. Reaching up he wiped away a thin trail of blood from his mouth. "How did you withstand the Mangekyou's Tsukuyomi?"

"What? Your Sharingan can't figure it out?" Ke stood up and smirked as his eyes narrowed. She didn't appear to be affected at all by his Tsukuyomi, she was smiling even! She rolled her eyes as her smile fell away into a scowl. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she folded her arms. It was gone. The humor, the smile, the carelessness, everything human was gone about Ke. Itachi didn't need his Sharingan to see that all that remained was a monster. "Did you really think that a spoiled little brat like you could even begin to fathom a fraction of the pain I've faced? You, raised in the peaceful and rich village of Konoha with loving parents and adoring villagers, dare to think you could even conceive something worse than my life with Orochimaru and the demons of Hikage? Your mind isn't capable of dreaming up anything even close to my life. Your worst nightmare is me on a good day, little boy."

Itachi's fist tightened around his kunei as he glared at her. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Ke frowned slightly when he opened them, cold and devoid of any anger. "You have no chakra left. You used it all on that overgrown dog. I'll admit, you've remained relatively unscathed throughout this battle that is mostly due to your excess waste of chakra and my unwillingness to get my hands dirty. And the only reason why you resisted my Tsukuyomi is mere coincidence. You've survived on pure luck so far. Now that you have nothing left what are you going to do?"

It took everything in Ke's power to not let his words change her expression. Because, frankly, they were true. She had almost no chakra left and he had plenty. Her physical injuries were relatively minor but all he had was a fine red line on his throat and a slight burn on his hand. She raised her chin slightly as she realized her only option.

"Who said I needed chakra?" Her death stare remained as she began to form hand signs. She didn't have enough chakra to do a clone let alone a finishing technique for Itachi. But she still had enough life force in reserves to finish him off. "Demon Dimension jutsu: Hell's consumption."

Itachi watched the life force ebb away from her into the ground through his red tinted vision. It spread out and disappeared as she fell to her knees. His eyes narrowed, _What kind of jutsu was that? _Suddenly the ground beneath Itachi cracked and tendrils of black energy flew up towards Itachi.

"Fireball jutsu!" He launched the fire towards the tendrils as they wrapped around his legs. However, the fire just dissipated into the energy. Ke fell forward but caught herself with shaking arms as the earth beneath her began to shift. The changing earth raised her up on a platform as she watched the struggling Itachi below her. Her eyes were cold.

"Don't ever mess with my kids you bastard," she muttered before falling forward, satisfied that he had sealed his fate but her body was now cold.

The energy continued to creep up Itachi's body as he concentrated his Sharingan, "Amaterasu." Black flames erupted from the energy and the tendrils cringed as the flames ate away at them. They jumped back from Itachi as he cleared the impending danger. However, when he landed on steady ground he stumbled and fell backwards. He glanced up at the now still body of Ke as the earth continued to shift and fall away into the black energy beneath it. His eyes narrowed as they faded from red into black. Between his battle with her and using Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu he was too weak to fight off the abyss any longer. His fist tightened as he realized the jutsu didn't end with Ke. However, it did seem to be stationary. Without her the energy would just attack anything near it, if he could just stay away from it he'd be fine. However, without his Sharingan there was no way he could avoid the abyss and search for Rin and that raccoon demon. He retreated calmly into the woods.

The ground holding Ke up began to break away and her arm fell over the side. It dangled above the black energy swirling below her as the ground continued to fall away into the abyss. With the foundation breaking she began to slide towards the hungry darkness and finally she slid off the platform of earth and fell into the hell so many thought she was spawned from. The black tendrils shot out towards her, eager for a snack. They brushed through her long golden hair before she was snatched away by a green flash. The energy writhed in disappointment before returning to the abyss, waiting for another opportunity.

Gai looked back at the abyss and narrowed his eyes before inspecting Ke. He frowned when she felt cold and still in his arms. He sighed sadly before carrying Ke back to Konoha. Itachi watched Gai retreat as Kisame appeared behind him.

"Did you have fun watching?" Itachi asked and Kisame shrugged.

"She has fun jutsus," Kisame smiled. "Although you could have been a little livelier."

"I'll try and be more entertaining next time."

"Shall we go after them?"

"No," Itachi said as he saw Gai grow smaller and smaller in the distance. He could finish off Ke no problem, but there was no way he could handle Gai in his current condition. "Let's go."

Kisame shouldered his blade and Itachi closed his eyes as they disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Hey all, unfortunately this is probably the last chapter. It's not where I wanted to end the story but due to lack of reviews I've decided to stop. It's kind of pointless to write a story no one seems to read or like. I just wanted to put one last chapter out there in case there was some interest.

Thanx to all who've read!


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